US Immigration Crisis: 4 Reasons Hondurans Are Fleeing Their Country

During the last eight months, as of June 15, about 52,000 children were detained at the U.S. border with Mexico. This does not include thousands more adults who have made the dangerous journey from Central America to the US border. Many of these migrants have come from Honduras, a country that has faced increasing violence and instability in recent years. The number of Hondurans arriving undocumented now stands around 500,000. Here are 4 Reasons Hondurans Are Fleeing Their Country.

1. Violence. Honduras has the American continent's highest murder rate with 90.4 murders per hundred thousand inhabitants. With a murder rate of a murder rate of 169 per 100,000 people in 2011, San Pedro Sula is one of the most violent cities in the world. As a New York Times report articulates "it is the everyday grind of murder and mayhem that gnaws most of all at people here." Caught in the middle of gang warfare, Hondurans see no choice but to flee in search of safety.

2. Political Instability. Although Honduras was spared some of the political tumult of the 90s, it has faced political upheaval in recent years. In 2009, a coup d'etat led by the army ousted President Manuel Zelaya. According to the Times, "the 2009 coup, coupled with the worldwide recession, took a toll, and the economic shock wave was keenly felt." The effects are particularly felt with the underfunded and corrupt police.

3. Drug Trafficking. According to the Times: "To make matters even more volatile, drug trafficking organizations in recent years, facing increasing obstacles in the Caribbean, began moving more cocaine through Central America and forging alliances with the gangs as foot soldiers. Honduras became a major transshipment point for cocaine flown from South America, and the cartels, along with corrupt police officers, may be supplying the gangs with weapons and cheap cocaine as payment."

4. Poverty. According to Proyecto Mirador "65.2% of Hondurans live in poverty. In the rural areas where we work, 54% of households are subject to extreme poverty of incomes of less than $1.25 per day. " Many Hondurans are simply fleeing in search of actual work.