U.S. reaches asylum deal with Honduras

Washington — The Trump administration on Wednesday announced it had reached an asylum agreement with Honduras’ scandal-plagued government, unveiling the latest of its controversial immigration deals with the three countries in Central America’s Northern Triangle, where the bulk of U.S.-bound migrants are coming from or transiting through.

Under the tenure of Acting Secretary Kevin McAleenan, the Department of Homeland Security has spearheaded a campaign of diplomacy to broker bilateral accords with several Latin American countries designed to deter migrants considering journeying to the U.S.-Mexico border. 

The agreement with Honduras’ center-right government will allow the U.S. to deport asylum seekers who seek refuge at the southern border if they traveled through Honduras and failed to seek protection there, according to a senior Homeland Security official. The U.S., the official added, would send these migrants to Honduras so they can have the “opportunity” to seek asylum or another form of protection there. 

“It will allow migrants to seek protection as close to home as possible,” the Homeland Security official said.

The deal means the U.S. will have the power to potentially deport thousands of asylum seekers from all corners of the globe to Honduras, a country that like Guatemala and El Salvador, has seen a lot of its citizens journey north because of the poverty and violence rampant in many areas. 

The Homeland Security official said the deal committed the U.S. to help the government of Honduras bolster its asylum system — a similar pledge made to leaders in Guatemala and El Salvador. 

Last week, the administration touted a similar deal with El Salvador, a small country that has long been plagued by widespread insecurity and gang violence. Earlier in the summer, the U.S. and the Guatemalan government brokered an agreement to allow the Trump administration to deport asylum seekers who traveled from other countries through Guatemala to reach the U.S.-Mexico border — and these migrants would be required to seek asylum in Guatemala instead. 

Like the agreements with Guatemala and El Salvador, the deal announced on Wednesday with Honduras has not been implemented. The Homeland Security official said all countries involved are proceeding to fulfill the respective domestic legal obligations to ratify the accords.