Honduras, a country a little bigger than Tennessee, is located in Central America and is bordered by Guatemala, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. With a population of 9,038,741 Honduras is the second poorest country in Central America with more than half of its people living in poverty. This is caused from an unequal distribution of income, a high underemployment, and a poor quality of education where the drop out rate and grade repetition remain high, and teacher and school accountability is low(C.I.A, 2018). The issue of poverty along with the fact that Honduras has one of the highest murder rates in the world is the reason that we are seeing a mass exodus of Hondurans coming to seek asylum in the USA.
It is not uncommon for large groups of migrants to leave out of Central America in large numbers in an attempt to flee poverty and violence. Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador are referred to the “Northern Triangle” of Central America and rank among the most violent in the world “with drug cartels moving illegal merchandise throughout the region and street gangs controlling the neighborhoods and charging residents “rent” (a form of extortion). (Argen, 2018). People fearing for the safety of their families rather risk leaving their homes and an uncertain journey, for a chance at a better life for their children.
The dream of a better life started out with a group of 160 Honduran migrants who began their journey walking north across Central America in hopes of reaching the United States.These caravans consist of family units and regularly convene because people seek safety in numbers. “Undocumented migrants transiting Mexico often fall victim to crimes such as kidnapping, extortion and rape — often committed by criminal gangs, drug cartels, coyotes and crooked public officials.”(Argen, 2018). Now the crowd has grown to close to 4,000 people with the situation getting more and more dangerous every day. As they get closer to the border some have turned back but most have continued to press on. Those who continue, are not only dealing with lack of food, basic supplies, heat, and heavy rain but with the resistance of the countries they are passing through.
As their journey continues it is uncertain what their future holds. As we know our current administration has a Zero Policy on immigration that has gone as far as separating families at the border and has made recent comments regarding this issue tweeting, “The United States has strongly informed the President of Honduras that if the large Caravan of people heading to the U.S. is not stopped and brought back to Honduras, no more money or aid will be given to Honduras, effective immediately!” and “We have today informed the countries of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador that if they allow their citizens, or others, to journey through their borders and up to the United States, with the intention of entering our country illegally, all payments made to them will STOP (END)!” (Argen, 2018).
Even with this type of unwelcoming and intimidating attitude towards them and the fear of the unknown they continue to march on seeking asylum and hoping to seek refuge in our country. As a mother of three children I would do anything for my children just like I am sure these mothers and fathers are doing for their own children. If they are choosing to continue this journey what they are leaving behind and running from must be much worse than what they are facing now, so why not let them in. The Honduran congressman Jari Dixon, summed it up perfectly,” They are not seeking the American dream — they’re fleeing the Honduran nightmare” (Dangerfield, 2018).
References
Agren, D. (2018, October 18). Mexican government sends federal police to intercept caravan of U.S.-bound migrants. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/10/17/mexican-government-sends-federal-police-stop-caravan-u-s-bound-migrants/1674954002/
Central Intelligence Agency (2018). The world factbook. Retrieved at https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.htmlLinks to an external site. (Links to an external site.)
Dangerfield, K. (2018, October 20). IN PHOTOS: Thousands of migrants make dangerous trek to U.S., and the situation is getting dire. Retrieved from https://globalnews.ca/news/4576265/honduran-migrants-mexico-border-u-s/
This breaks my heart, as a mother and as a person. My Facebook newsfeed has contained memes and other messaging about this situation, and I remain silent because I believe no good can come from social media arguing. I have avoided the issue altogether. Reading that the Honduran congressman Jari Dixon said, “They are not seeking the American dream — they’re fleeing the Honduran nightmare” (Dangerfield, 2018) just twists my heart for them.
I had a friend whose family fled Armenia because of horrific violence. He eventually became an American citizen. I have another friend who crossed into the U.S. as a child from El Salvador – I wrote about her here as a blog post – and in leaving her home country, she also had to leave her mother. I believe that left a wound in her heart that will never fully heal, but it also gave her an opportunity to grow up and marry and become a mother herself, and raise children in an environment free of the horrors of her own early childhood.
My wish for all the families, the people, the children, in situations where they live in fear for their lives, and for their loved ones’ lives, is peace – safety – HOME – real, true home, a haven. We cannot control gang violence, drug cartels, crooked politics, lacking resources, fear, pain, coercion, rape . . . we have no say or ability to police every neighborhood in every nation – but what if we could listen? What if we could hear the voices that are calling for our help? What if we could embrace the people who have risked and given up so much, on the slim chance that they might be allowed to put their children to bed in a place without fear of slaughter?
I wonder sometimes, where has our humanity gone. But, according to Hofstede, we in America scored a 91 in the Individualism category – perhaps that’s where it’s gone. We are focused on our selves. Perhaps we are not, as a nation, capable of the compassion for others that is necessary to help people who only want an opportunity to help themselves.
Reference
Dangerfield, K. (2018, October 20). IN PHOTOS: Thousands of migrants make dangerous trek to U.S., and the situation is getting dire. Retrieved from https://globalnews.ca/news/4576265/honduran-migrants-mexico-border-u-s/
Hofstede, G. (2013). Geert Hofstede. Retrieved from https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/