Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández on Oct. 11, 2018, expressed concern over the continued separation of migrant children from their parents during a conference at the State Department. (Photo by Ocastellanos99; courtesy Wikimedia Commons)
The president of Honduras on Thursday reiterated his government’s concern over the separation of migrant children from their parents after they entered the U.S.
Juan Orlando Hernández in remarks that he gave at the State Department during the opening of the second Conference for Prosperity and Security in Central America said his government has “a solution for the 119 Honduran children who have been separated from their parents here in the United States.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Vice President Pence, Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray and Mexican Government Secretary Alfonso Navarrete are co-hosting the two-day conference. Hernández, along with Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales, Salvadoran Vice President Óscar Ortiz and representatives of Mexican President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador are also participating.
Nielsen did not speak at the opening of the conference, but Hernández specifically referred to her in his remarks.
“We have a solution in mind, Secretary Nielsen,” said Hernández, speaking through an interpreter. “If you look at your conscience, if we all put ourself (sic) in the shoes of these parents — imagine if a child from your country found himself or herself in that situation, you could understand the rejection this has caused in my country, the huge pressure we face.”
“It’s a matter of humanity,” he added. “It is impossible to understand for some how an issue that is in the biggest interest of children and family reunification — well, this continues to be a pending matter. I cannot go back to Honduras without an answer.”
Ortiz echoed Hernández’s concerns.
“We are very concerned about family reunification, especially about the young children that have remained here in the United States,” said Ortiz, also speaking through an interpreter.
The Trump administration earlier this year announced it will end the Temporary Protected Status program for the up to 200,000 Salvadorans who have received temporary residency permits that allow them to stay in the U.S. Ortiz expressed concern over this decision, even though a federal judge last week temporarily blocked the Trump administration from ending TPS for Salvadorans and citizens of other countries that include Haiti and Nicaragua.
Trump earlier this year reportedly described El Salvador as a “shithole country.”
“The issue of TPS — we need more time in the Northern Triangle,” said Ortiz.
