Here’s why children make the dangerous journey to the U.S. from Honduras

Editor’s Note: Watch ABC-7 special report at 10 p.m. today from Honduras

We know they’re coming to America by the thousands — undocumented immigrant children making the dangerous trek from Central America, crossing the border into Texas alone.

As the humanitarian crisis reaches a new peak, we are in San Pedro Sula, the second largest city in Honduras, to find out what’s driving the surge north to the Texas-Mexico border.

This is a place where childhood ends early. Not only is there grinding poverty, but the big factor in this industrial city is violence — gang violence and drug violence.
San Pedro Sula has the highest per-capita murder rate in the world, and police don’t have a lot of resources; sometimes they lack the funds to fuel their vehicles. Police corruption is also a factor.

US seen as escape route from Honduras slum

Many of the young immigrants who are making the harrowing journey to seek refuge in the U.S. are coming from Honduras.

It is a country with a high crime rate and devastating poverty.

But false rumors of a better life in America echo throughout poor neighborhoods like Los Bordos in San Pedro Sula, the second-largest city in Honduras.

It’s called Los Bordos because it’s right on the banks of a canal that carries raw sewage. Families have come here from rural areas in Honduras.

We spoke with a single mother who lives here with her four children, looking for work. She still hasn’t found a steady job, and she worries about the future of her children.

She has heard about other youngsters making the dangerous trip north to the Texas-Mexico border, and she worries that her children will one day have to follow because they can’t find any opportunities in their home country.