Obama Weighing Refugee Status for Honduran Child Migrants
Obama Weighing Refugee Status for Honduran Child Migrants
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Immigrant Melida Patricio Castro from Honduras shows a birth certificate for her daughter Maria Celeste, 2, to a U.S. Border Patrol agent near the U.S.-Mexico border near Mission, Texas on July 24, 2014.John Moore—Getty Images
The Obama administration is considering granting refugee status to young Hondurans as part of a plan stem the tide of unaccompanied Central American child migrants flooding illegally across the U.S.-Mexico border, White House officials reportedly said Thursday.
Under the plan youths would be interviewed in Honduras to determine if they qualify for refugee status in the United States, CBS News reports. Administration officials told the New York Times they believed the move could be done by executive action, and without going through Congress, if it did not increase the overall number of refugees to the U.S.
The proposal is reportedly one of a broader group of potential initiatives to address the crisis.
After Speaker John Boehner said that the GOP-controlled House would not allow a vote on comprehensive immigration reform this year, the President announced that he was prepared “to do what Congress refuses to do, and fix as much of our immigration system as we can.”
More than 16,000 unaccompanied Honduran children and 30,000 Hondurans traveling as families have been apprehended attempting to cross into the United States from Mexico illegally since October 1.
Juan Orlando Hernández, the President of Honduras, blames the crisis on a combination of factors, including lack of opportunity inside the country and drug cartels and street gangs enriched by narcotics trafficking who sow havoc through much of the country. Honduras has the highest murder rate of any country in the world.
President Obama was due to meet with Hernandez, Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina and El Salvadorean President Salvador Sanchez Ceren on Friday to discuss the high numbers of young immigrants crossing the border illegally.
Photographer Captures Birds-Eye View of Border Crisis
A U.S. Office of Air and Marine helicopter patrols over the Rio Grande at the U.S.-Mexico border in McAllen, Texas on July 21, 2014.John Moore—Getty ImagesUndocumented immigrant families walk before being taken into custody by Border Patrol agents near McAllen, Texas on July 21, 2014. John Moore—Getty ImagesU.S. Border Patrol agents chase undocumented immigrants through the countryside near Falfurrias, Texas on July 22, 2014.John Moore—Getty ImagesU.S. Border Patrol agents take undocumented immigrants into custody near Falfurrias, Texas on July 21, 2014.John Moore—Getty ImagesU.S. Border Patrol agents take undocumented immigrants into custody near Falfurrias, Texas on July 21, 2014.John Moore—Getty ImagesU.S. Border Patrol agents take undocumented immigrant families into custody at the border fence in McAllen, Texas on July 21, 2014. John Moore—Getty ImagesBorder Patrol agents take undocumented immigrant families into custody in McAllen, Texas on July 21, 2014.John Moore—Getty ImagesU.S. Border Patrol agents detain undocumented immigrants some 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border near Falfurrias, Texas on July 23, 2014.John Moore—Getty ImagesAn undocumented immigrant awaits medical attention by U.S. Border Patrol agents some 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border near Falfurrias, Texas on July 23, 2014.John Moore—Getty ImagesU.S. Border Patrol agents detain undocumented immigrants in dense brushland some 60 miles north of the U.S. Mexico border in Brooks County, Texas on July 23, 2014.John Moore—Getty ImagesAn undocumented immigrant awaits transportation to a processing center after being detained by U.S. Border Patrol agents some 60 miles north of the U.S. Mexico border near Falfurrias, Texas on July 23, 2014.John Moore—Getty ImagesAn undocumented immigrant sits after being detained by U.S. Border Patrol agents some 60 miles north of the U.S. Mexico border near Falfurrias, Texas on July 23, 2014.John Moore—Getty ImagesUndocumented immigrants await transport to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection processing center after being detained near Falfurrias, Texas on July 22, 2014.John Moore—Getty ImagesA U.S. Border Patrol agent endures the heat after taking undocumented immigrants into custody near Falfurrias, Texas on July 22, 2014.John Moore—Getty ImagesUndocumented immigrants flee into dense brush from U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents some 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border in Brooks County, Texas on July 23, 2014.John Moore—Getty ImagesU.S. Border Patrol agents guard undocumented immigrants before sending them to a processing center near Falfurrias, Texas on July 22, 2014.John Moore—Getty ImagesUndocumented immigrants are transported to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection processing center after being detained near Falfurrias, Texas on July 22, 2014.John Moore—Getty Images
