Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
Honduran Secretary of State Lisandro Rosales said on Friday that human traffickers have used President Joe Biden’s immigration policy to boost the influx of undocumented immigrants to the United States.
He also said that “it hurts the government of Honduras a lot” that President Juan Orlando Hernández has been selected for drug trafficking in a New York court, when “all he’s done” is to fight “head-on”. against organized crime.
Here is a summary of the interview with AFP following a bilateral dialogue in Washington between high-level delegations from both countries on migration, anti-corruption and reconstruction after Hurricanes Eta and Iota.
The arrests of undocumented immigrants soared on the southern border of the United States. Did the traffickers take advantage of Joe Biden’s rise to power to expel the migrants?
Unfortunately, the numbers show that this is the case. In November 10,000 Hondurans were detained at the southern US border and 41,000 in March, an increase after President Biden’s inauguration (January 20). The coyotes have benefited from the message that the migration issue would be addressed in a comprehensive way and this has led them to use children as a human shield.
How many Honduran minors have entered the United States illegally?
We’ve got an unofficial preliminary figure of about 4,000 in the last two months, but it’s going up every day.
To what do you attribute this new migration wave?
What we see is that 98% of those detained at the southern border are from the areas affected by Eta and Iota (last November), which left about $ 2 billion in losses in Honduras.
What did you talk to Ricardo Zúñiga, Biden’s envoy to the Central American Northern Triangle?
He obviously showed a special interest in migration, but also in the reconstruction plan and how the United States can help. I believe that we must take advantage of reconstruction to create opportunities that take root for the citizens of Honduras.
US Congressman Norma Torres pleaded with Biden not to direct money to Central America because of “corruption” and “bad governance.”
31 years ago, the United States decided to channel its resources through NGOs and agencies it has in the country; we don’t get five directly from the US government. What we do want is for 100% or 98% to reach those who need it. Reduce bureaucracy and tailor projects to the needs of host countries.
President Hernández was charged with drug trafficking in a New York court, where his brother and former deputy were sentenced to life imprisonment for the crime.
It affects a lot, because it damages the reputation of institutions that have proven otherwise. In 2011, 87% of the drugs entering the United States went through Honduras and now only 3%, so it’s clear someone’s business has been damaged and they want revenge. The problem is, known killers gain credibility in a US court, allowing them to say what they want to a president who has only done it directly and fights organized crime head-on.
Isn’t the president’s brother responsible for drug trafficking?
I don’t know the insides, but President Hernández has done the opposite of what was said in the trials. As of 2014, there are 41 Hondurans for drug trafficking in United States prisons as a result of the extradition bill passed while he was president of Congress.
Zúñiga is the son of a Honduran military and diplomat and the grandson of a former Honduran presidential candidate, did you know him?
Yes, of course very well. His father worked closely with my father, who was a general in the armed forces. I knew him as a child. I consider him very capable, very prepared and very aware of the situation in Honduras.
And why didn’t Zúñiga travel to Honduras like Guatemala and El Salvador?
Because we had been planning these meetings in Washington since February 4.
Doesn’t it have to do with the president’s brother’s punishment for drug trafficking?
It has absolutely nothing to do.
You have asked the United States to grant a new Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Hondurans, in addition to the status in force since 1999, is there any progress?
Secretary (of US Homeland Security, Alejandro) Mayorkas told me this week that they are analyzing the data to assign a new TPS to Honduras because of the storms. He hasn’t given us a date, but we hope it will be soon.