Despite a sharp rise in Mexico's deportations of Hondurans who seek to cross Mexico on their way to the United States, the illegal flow northward is continuing along new routes, according to an article in the Honduran newspaper La Prensa.
The article quotes a Honduran government official who said Mexico has deported 4,900 Hondurans this year, most of them between the ages of 11 and 29.
La Prensa also quotes a Catholic priest who gives shelter to Central American migrants in Mexico. The priest said that while stepped-up law enforcement has blocked access to the freight trains that used to carry tens of thousands northward on their roofs every year, Hondurans have adopted other strategies as they seek to join an exodus to the United States that has grown tremendously in recent years.
La Prensa reports that some are venturing northward in small boats that circumvent Mexican border controls by traveling partway up Mexico's Pacific coast to ports in the states of Chiapas and Oaxaca. Others are hiking through remote borderland regions or traveling hidden in cargo trucks, taxis, and buses.
Thanks to former Immigration and Naturalization Service officer Gene Guyant for bringing the article to our attention.