U.S. Counselor of Department of State Thomas Shannon arrived in Honduras on Wednesday as part of a three-day trip to Central America to address the estimated 52,000 unaccompanied minors from the region entering the U.S. illegally. As part of his trip, Shannon visited repatriation centers and met with leaders of civic organizations and government officials. He also spoke with members of the Red Cross, the Border Police, and immigration officials on the Honduran-Guatemalan border in Corinto, Honduras—an area that has seen high levels of violence and narcotrafficking activity, as well as the transit of thousands of migrants per year.
The unaccompanied minors entering the U.S. are primarily coming from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador and many have since been detained by U.S. officials. “Migration is a problem that corresponds to all of the countries involved—the countries of origin, transit and destination. We have the responsibility to work together to look for a solution to the problem,” said Shannon.
Shannon, who is the first Foreign Service Officer to serve as Counselor in 32 years, discussed the importance of addressing the push factors in Central America. “We want to work to assure that migrants, instead of looking for the American dream look for the Honduran dream. We need to build opportunities [in Central America], even though we understand that some of these [children] wish to be [reunited] with their parents, but migration has many causes,” he said.
Shannon’s trip concludes today, just before President Barack Obama is scheduled to meet with Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina and Salvadorian President Salvador Sánchez Cerén on Friday in Washington DC to discuss the crisis of children migrants.
