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July 28, 2014

Obama Hosts Central American Leaders on Migrant Crisis 
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President Obama hosted Central American leaders at the White House on
Friday to discuss the influx of migrant children on the U.S.-Mexico
border. Obama met with the presidents of Guatemala, El Salvador and
Honduras, the three home countries for the bulk of migrants fleeing
violence and poverty. Obama said he warned that those children without
valid claims will be deported.

President Obama: "We have to deter a continuing influx of children
putting themselves at great risk, and families who are putting their
children at great risk. And so I emphasize that within a legal framework
and a humanitarian framework and proper due process, children who do not
have proper claims, and families with children who do not have proper
claims, at some point, will be subject to repatriation to their home
countries."

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández says he asked Obama for U.S.
help in taking on the root causes of the migrant crisis, including the
massive U.S. demand that fuels the Central American drug trade.
President Obama has asked Republicans for $3.7 billion to address the
migrant crisis, but Republicans have introduced a plan to allocate less
than $1 billion. A group of immigrant rights advocates, meanwhile, has
announced a picket line at the White House today "unless and until
undocumented people are represented at the negotiating table."

 

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