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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Proposal opens avenue for Honduran kids

Immigration application could be filed in home country

Brian Bennett McClatchy-Tribune

WASHINGTON – The White House is considering a proposal that would allow Honduran children to apply for admission to the United States as refugees or on humanitarian grounds while still in their native country.

It is among several plans under review to deter Central American kids from making the difficult and dangerous journey to the Southwest border, White House officials said Thursday. If successful, the program could be expanded to include other volatile nations, such as Guatemala and El Salvador.

Under the plan, children fleeing dangerous street gangs plaguing cities in Honduras, or other threats, would be interviewed by American immigration officials and temporarily sheltered in Honduras while their cases are considered.

Supporters of the plan said it would help children who are genuinely in danger and reduce the number of minors traveling along smuggling routes through Mexico. Critics said it would only increase the number of refugees and worsen the current backlog of applications from Central America.

The idea is similar to a proposal from Arizona Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake, both Republicans, to boost the number of visas by 5,000 for young people coming from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

Of the 57,000 unaccompanied minors apprehended at the Southwest border since Oct. 1, more than 45,000 have been from these three countries. Their numbers have overwhelmed social services and created a humanitarian crisis.

The presidents of Guatemala and Honduras, who were in Washington on Thursday, said changing the U.S. immigration system would be helpful, but insufficient. If the U.S. wants to stem the tide of children illegally crossing its Southwest border, it should increase investment in Central America to improve security and dismantle drug cartels, they said.

They met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill Thursday. They are scheduled to meet with President Barack Obama today.

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez said he appreciated the attention the crisis had brought to economic conditions in Honduras, where 45 percent of the populace lives on less than $1 a day.

But the vast majority of children are fleeing violence and crime, he said. “Where the greatest drug violence lies – that is where the most children are departing,” he said.

Hernandez said he had been working to purge Honduras of corrupt officials and to extradite accused drug lords to the U.S. He recently launched an overhaul of the government’s immigration department.

“The old immigration officials were in cahoots with the drug traffickers,” he said.