Latin American Refugees

Many Latin American refugees are fleeing from the violence and poverty of their home country to the United States. They chose to flee to the United States in hopes of finding more job opportunities and an assurance of their family's safety. Latin American refugees are being marginalized because the government is viewing the refugees as a threat and not allowing them to cross the southern border because they are known to have a bad reputation of having a high rate of crime, murder and violence. This causes the refugees to not be able to cross the border and escape their brutal lifestyle. Despite knowing that, why would thousands of desperate refugees risk their lives to attempt crossing the southern border knowing that they have a chance of getting sent straight back to where they started?

Latin American refugees from Honduras are escaping from violent gang recruiting more members that can potentially be them or their loved ones. In addition to that, gang members are also forcing the Honduran citizens to pay war taxes. If they refuse they will get brutally killed. In the article called Central America's Violent Northern Triangle by Rocio Cara Labrador and Danielle Renwick it states Migrants from all three countries cite violence, forced gang recruitment...as their reasons for leaving. This quote demonstrates how gang members are forcefully recruiting more members which is one of the vital reasons refugees are escaping Honduras to seek asylum.

Another essential point to the reasons in why refugees are fleeing their home to attempt illegally crossing the United States border is the extreme poverty. The people of Latin America have a lack of job opportunities which is one of the causes of being deprived. This extreme poverty has also causes the majority of people in Honduras to be in severe living conditions. In the article called Poverty in Honduras by Samaria Garrett it says Over 64 percent of Hondurans live below the poverty level of $2 per day, according to Proyecto Mirador, a website that highlights the poverty in Honduras and what can be done about it. Under- and unemployment rates in Honduras reside at 36 percent. The majority of families lack access to clean water, and access to medical care or electricity is slim to none. This excerpt reveals the harsh conditions that Honduras refugees are escaping from and in hopes that in the United States they will have a better chance in improving their lifestyle.

Additionally, another key aspect that causes refugees to flee their homes is the high amount of crime and murders in Honduras. These crimes includes human trafficking, kidnapping and smuggling. This makes the citizens of Honduras feel very afraid and anxious that they or their loved ones will be next to be murdered because of this dangerous environment. In the article called How the World's Most Murderous Country Halved Its Killings in Five Years by Deborah Bonello it states In 2012, Honduras didn't just have the worst homicide rate in the world ” it was also witnessing murders more than twice as frequently as the nation with the next worst record, Belize. More than 90 Hondurans out of every 100,000 were murdered that year... This quote establishes the reason for Honduras being known to be one of the most violent places in the world which causes refugees to migrate to the United States in hopes of more safety.

To summarize, Latin American refugees are escaping their home country and risking their lives in order to seek asylum by traveling to the United States. Their long and devastating journey to the United States endangers their own physical, mental and emotional health. Even though they know that along their journey they can get caught by Mexican officers and get sent back to where they started, erasing all of their progress. These refugees are so desperate that by fleeing and risking their lives to get to the United States is better than just staying in Latin America which has a lack of opportunities, violent gang members and the brutal conditions of being in extreme poverty.

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