In November 2018, the largest caravan of migrants in history made its way to the U.S.-Mexico border. Most of the 5,000 people who arrived at the border were from Honduras.
Hondurans also made up the majority of the 1,500-person caravan that had arrived in Tijuana earlier that year, in April 2018.
The flow has slowed down thanks to a crackdown that came in response to the caravans. But since 2018, Hondurans continue to migrate in the highest rates of any nationality coming to the United States. In May, a number equivalent to one in every 224 Hondurans was apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border in a single month. As VOSD’s Maya Srikrishnan puts it: That’s an exodus.
Srikrishnan recently traveled to San Pedro Sula, Honduras, to better understand what’s driving the exodus.
She’s written a series of dispatches on the trip:
- He Made it From Honduras to the U.S., and Was Sent Right Back
- Hondurans Debating Whether to Flee Weigh Family, Finances and Fear
- The Other Big Reason Why So Many Hondurans Come to the U.S.
And in this week’s show, you’ll hear directly from Hondurans — the people who have left, those considering leaving and some who migrated to the U.S. then were deported back to Honduras.
Srikrishnan’s trip to Honduras was funded by the International Center for Journalists.
News of the Week
Host Scott Lewis also wrapped up the podcast with the news of the week.
- The City Council is set to vote Tuesday on Council President Georgette Gómez’s proposal to force developers to pay for or build more low-income housing as part of their projects. Gómez says the time for negotiating is over.
- New state data shows who gets to go to college and what student groups our public school system is failing to serve. VOSD’s Will Huntsberry pulled out some of the most interesting pieces of data on who’s attending and completing college from San Diego County schools. Latino students represent roughly 57 percent of San Diego Unified’s populations; but the district is failing to help them get the same graduation rates as their peers.
- And this week, the San Diego Association of Governments fired three senior staffers, marking another leadership shakeup for an agency that has been changing direction since late last year.