For Many Central American Migrants, U.S. Border Is Now Beyond Reach
Ortega directs the federal El Edén center in San Pedro Sula, Honduras' second-largest city. El Edén means "Eden." But to the folks who end up there, it's hardly the paradise they were reaching for. Instead, it's back to square one — the place that receives migrants who are bused back into Honduras after they're intercepted in Mexico on their trek to the United States.
On this summer morning, Ortega's smartphone is telling him to get ready for three busloads of deportees: More than 300 people — about 30 of them minors traveling alone.
"It's our job to make those children feel like they've come home," Ortega says, pointing to a new mini-soccer field the center is building. "We don't want them to feel like they're in another detention facility."
As weary families and lonely teenagers file out of the buses, Ortega's staff directs them to a meal of Honduran beef stew. Youths store their belongings in large lockers as matter-of-factly as high school students heading to class.
Soon they'll be processed, examined by doctors and given shelter for up to three days before relatives pick them up.
http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2015/10/07/446082338/for-many-central-american-migrants-the-u-s-border-is-now-beyond-reach
