6/29/2014
First Lady of Honduras spent the last three days in the Rio Grande Valley touring federal facilities where thousands of undocumented immigrants are being held.
The Rio Grande Valley is the hot spot of illegal crossing.
So far 174,000 undocumented immigrants have crossed the U.S. - Mexico border since October 1, 2013.
The majority are unaccompanied children from Honduras.
"This is a humanitarian crisis of enormous proportions.” First Lady of Honduras, Ana García de Hernandez, said. “It’s something never seen before, it has affected all of us."
Her last stop in the Rio Grande Valley was the McAllen Border Patrol station where she met with over 300 Hondurans."
I asked them to raise your hand who has family in the united states? We saw everyone raise their hand,” García de Hernandez said. “I asked who has a contact number of someone in the United States? Everyone had one. So besides the violence and poverty in our countries, there is also the migration situation and the desire to unite with their families."
The biggest concern for both countries is the danger the children are being put in.
Families are paying between $5,000 to $25,000 per child to human smugglers.
Both Congressman Henry Cuellar and the first lady stressed coyotes are becoming millionaires.
Congressman Cuellar said that so far they have made over $240 million.
"Many of them are sexually abused, many girls are raped on the journey,” García de Hernandez said. “They told us stories about 12-year-old girls that part of the package that coyotes sell is that they offer birth control because they know they will be raped."
The first lady also made a desperate plea to parents asking them to stop sending their children alone.
She emphasized that it is a dangerous trip and that parents should spend that money to give their children a better lifestyle in their countries.
For now, Congressman Cuellar says the government is working to speed up the deportation process and tweaking laws where Central Americans are treated as those Mexicans caught crossing the border; they are sent immediately back to their countries.
"This is not a democrat or a republican problem, this is something we need to work as fast as possible to address this issue," Congressman Cuellar said.
The first lady added that families crossing illegally will be sent back to their countries in the upcoming weeks.
However, those who are already in the system, Congressman Cuellar say it could take years for them to be deported.
The first lady also mentioned that on July 16th and 17th, Honduras will hold an international conference to discuss this humanitarian crisis.
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