USA Today reports: “Trump keeps focus on caravan of Honduran asylum seekers headed to U.S.” The New York Times is reporting Friday afternoon: “The Trump administration is ending temporary protected status for tens of thousands of Hondurans who have been allowed to live and work in the United States since 1999, following a hurricane that ravaged their country.”
SUYAPA PORTILLO, [in Honduras] Suyapa_Portillo at pitzer.edu, @SuyapaPV
Portillo is an assistant professor at Pitzer College and observed last year’s election in Honduras. She said today: “This year’s Viacrusis (immigrant caravan) amplifies the dire conditions facing Hondurans in the election fraud debacle.” She states that the Honduran government “is resorting to persecution, human rights violations and downright murder to control the population to create the illusion of popular support. The UN High Commissioner’s report notes that there were 23 executions during demonstrations and 22 political prisoners whose only crime was to go out and protest electoral fraud. This government is not able to provide decent jobs, education and access to justice, and cannot protect women, children nor LGBTQI communities. The government cannot provide for Hondurans in the country, let alone those deported. They are not ready for reintegration of potential deported TPS [temporary protected status] holders from the U.S. and offer little to no assistance to returned migrants from Mexico. When deported back, Hondurans will be coming back to a country with a government that cannot control ‘violence’ because it itself is violent and murderous.”
Portillo was recently quoted extensively in the AZ Central piece “Migrant caravan: Parents seeking asylum in U.S. fear forcible separation from children.”
MARTIN PINEDA, [in Los Angeles], MPineda at carecen-la.org, @carecen_la
Pineda is digital organizer with CARECEN, the largest Central American immigrant rights organization in the country. He said today: “When individuals often feel they don’t have a choice but to flee their beautiful countries, it’s because they have lost all hope. It is no coincidence that 80 percent of the Central American Refugee Caravan consists of Hondurans, particularly mothers, children, and members of the LGBTQI communities who are seeking their legal right of asylum. Hondurans in this caravan are fleeing the U.S.-backed repressive Juan Orlando Hernadez regime, which constantly oppresses its population and has numerous counts of human rights violations.”See IPA news release from December: “Evidence of Honduran Election Being Stolen.” Also see under-reported Associated Press investigation from earlier this year: “Secret report: Honduras’ new top cop helped cartel move coke.” When Sam Husseini questioned the State Department spokesperson about this issue, the State Department referred the matter to the Honduran government.
