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CONTINUING EFFECTS OF HURRICANE MITCH ON U.S. IMMIGRATION
Honduran immigration director Reina Ochoa says about 300 Hondurans are leaving the country each day, most headed for the U.S. The U.S. consulate in Tegucigalpa, Honduras says requests for visas have risen 40% from this time last year.
Many people are coming under the mistaken belief the U.S. is allowing them to work here. They have misunderstood the grant of Temporary Protected Status granted to Nicaraguans and Hondurans only applies to those people in the U.S. as of December 30, 1998. The refugees are setting out on a 1,500-mile long journey filled with dangers including wild animals, corrupt government officials who demand bribes, and thieves. Once they make it to the U.S. border, they are often subject to victimization by border "coyotes," and even if they make it into the U.S., if they are caught they will get only detention for their effort.
Officials at the border in the Brownsville, Texas area report a 61% increase in the number of Hondurans apprehended after illegally crossing the border during the last three months of 1998. Nearly 1,500 Hondurans were detained along the 100-mile stretch of the border at Brownsville. Officials believe these people are seeking to go to Honduran communities in New York and Miami, since officials in California are not reporting similar increases.