Honduras Implements Emergency Strategy to Protect Migrants
Migrants deported from the United States. X/ @primicias24
January 29, 2025 Hour: 7:38 am
President Castro annunced action programs for Hondurans in irregular immigration situations in the United States.
On Tuesday, Honduran President Xiomara Castro announced the National Emergency Strategy to protect deported migrants and reiterated her willingness to maintain a “close dialogue” with the United States.
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“The immediate expulsion of migrants from various Latin American and Caribbean countries, including Honduras, announced by the United States, undoubtedly creates a humanitarian and economic crisis in our nation,” Castro said in a national radio and television broadcast.
In response to the U.S. drastic immigration policy, she reaffirmed her commitment to “maintaining a close dialogue” with Washington to establish “policies of reciprocity and respect.”
The National Emergency Strategy includes action programs for Hondurans in irregular immigration situations in the United States, as well as for those in transit and those who have been returned.
“These emergency action programs require us to make cuts in public administration and budgetary efforts within the difficult conditions our country is currently facing,” Castro emphasized, explaining that the strategy provides support in areas such as healthcare, psychological and social assistance, legal aid, family reunification, and the establishment of shelters and temporary housing.
According to official figures, around 1.8 million Hondurans, both legal residents and undocumented individuals, live in the United States, with 261,651 facing deportation orders.
Castro assured that Honduras would provide “assistance and legal advice” to Hondurans in irregular immigration situations in the U.S. and would seek to sign bilateral or multilateral agreements with other countries to promote the protection of the rights of vulnerable migrants.
Additionally, she announced that the institutions that make up the Honduran Migration Governance Council would carry out a “massive campaign” to protect migrants’ rights. She also stated that the government would coordinate “humanitarian return flights” for Hondurans in Mexico who wish to return to their home country.
Honduras will also offer legal assistance to migrants through its consulates in Mexico, Castro specified, highlighting the creation of the “Brother, Come Home” program, which will provide deported Hondurans with a financial bonus, food, and seed capital to start businesses.
“We will advocate until services are provided for an orderly return that ensures the dignity and security our compatriots deserve through private flights that the Honduran government is willing to finance. Migrants are not criminals; they are human beings, and we must treat them as such. Migration is a human right,” Castro affirmed.
The mass deportations of migrants initiated by the United States under the new administration of Donald Trump have been criticized by several countries. At the beginning of January, Castro warned that if Trump orders a mass deportation of Hondurans, the U.S. military base that has been in the Central American country for more than 40 years would no longer have a reason to exist.
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE