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US-DIPLOMACY-MIGRATION-HONDURAS
Honduras identifies 313 children separated from families in US
TEGUCIGALPA, July 13, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – A total of 313 Honduran children
separated from their parents as a result of the United States’ “zero
tolerance” immigration police have been identified by Honduran consular
staff, an official said Thursday.
Liza Medrano, Honduras’ director of migrant protection, told a news
conference that the country’s consular officials in the United States visited
shelters in search of children after President Donald Trump’s administration
ordered the reunification of separated families.
“We have 313 children who were separated and who have been identified by
our consular network during the different interviews and shelter visits that
they have been able to do,” Medrano said.
Medrano said that the families should be reunited by July 26, with
authorities working to gather complete information on the identified
children.
She added that some parents had opted to leave their children in the United
States with another guardian while they returned to Honduras, but said
figures on this were still being updated.
The US government came under fierce international criticism for forcibly
separating thousands of families, most of them from Central America and
seeking asylum due to violence in their home countries.
The backlash led Trump to suspend the separations, which were ordered as
part of the administration’s effort to deter migrants from illegally crossing
the Mexican border.
BSS/AFP/MRI/0816 hrs