Immigration News: US Deports First Planeload Of Honduran Undocumented Migrant Children

The United States deported the first group of Honduran children on the first flight since President Barack Obama pledged to speed up the process of repatriating the children of undocumented immigrants from Central America. Fleeing violence and poverty, a record number of children from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala crossed the border into the United States last year, sparking intense debate about how to solve the problem.

The charter flight flew Monday from New Mexico to San Pedro Sula, the city with the highest murder rate in the world, bringing to Honduras 17 adult women, 12 girls and nine boys, aged 18 frin months to 15 years, according to the Government of Honduras. Leaving the airport the children were happy to board a bus while playing with some balloons that had been given to them. During the last eight months, as of June 15, about 52,000 children were detained at the U.S. border with Mexico.

President Obama is facing growing pressure to address the wave of unaccompanied minors. Immigrant advocates have called on the President to meet humanitarian needs, while Republicans in Congress have blamed the crisis of immigration on his policies and have asked Obama to secure the border. The Obama administration has insisted that the Central American children crossing the border illegally will be sent home and last week said it would speed up the deportation process.