Trump says he plans to pardon former Honduran President Hernandez for 2024 drug trafficking sentence
Read full article: Trump says he plans to pardon former Honduran President Hernandez for 2024 drug trafficking sentencePresident Donald Trump said Friday that he will be pardoning former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who in 2024 was convicted for drug trafficking and weapons charges and sentenced to 45 years in prison.
HPD sergeant shot while responding to call near Hobby Airport in SE Houston
Read full article: HPD sergeant shot while responding to call near Hobby Airport in SE HoustonTwo sergeants with the Houston Police Department were called to reports of a suspicious person with a weapon, and when they arrived, one of them was shot in the leg.
As Trump threatens mass deportations, Central America braces for an influx of vulnerable migrants
Read full article: As Trump threatens mass deportations, Central America braces for an influx of vulnerable migrantsU.S. President-elect Donald Trump is set to take office in January with a promise of carrying out mass deportations, leaving Honduras and other Central American countries bracing for a potential influx of vulnerable migrants — a situation they are ill-prepared to handle.
Honduras ex-first lady says presidential bid not meant to protect herself after husband's conviction
Read full article: Honduras ex-first lady says presidential bid not meant to protect herself after husband's convictionHonduras’ former first lady Ana García de Hernández says her decision to seek the presidency next year is about showing the world the injustice that was done to her recently convicted husband, not an attempt to protect herself from prosecution as some allege.
Former president of Honduras convicted in US of aiding drug traffickers
Read full article: Former president of Honduras convicted in US of aiding drug traffickersFormer Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez has been convicted in New York of conspiring with drug traffickers, his military and police to enable tons of cocaine to reach the United States.
Ex-Honduran president defends himself at New York drug trafficking trial
Read full article: Ex-Honduran president defends himself at New York drug trafficking trialFormer Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández took the witness stand in his defense at his New York trial, denying that he teamed up with drug dealers to protect them in return for millions of dollars in bribes.
Honduran ex-president accused of running his country as a ‘narco-state’ stands trial in NYC
Read full article: Honduran ex-president accused of running his country as a ‘narco-state’ stands trial in NYCFormer Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández is facing charges that he ran his impoverished Central American nation as a “narco-state."
Honduran woman admits to selling thousands of fraudulent temporary Texas license plates
Read full article: Honduran woman admits to selling thousands of fraudulent temporary Texas license platesA Honduran woman, illegally residing in Houston, has pleaded guilty to selling thousands of fraudulent Texas-issued temporary license plates, according to U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.
Honduran man to serve 29 years in prison for his role in multiple violent crimes committed in Houston area: DOJ
Read full article: Honduran man to serve 29 years in prison for his role in multiple violent crimes committed in Houston area: DOJA 27-year-old Honduran man, who illegally resided in the Houston area, has been sent to prison for 29 years after pleading guilty for multiple crimes he’s committed, U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery announced Tuesday.
Honduras ex-president Hernández faces charges in U.S. court
Read full article: Honduras ex-president Hernández faces charges in U.S. courtFormer Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández has appeared virtually in federal court in New York to face drug trafficking and weapons charges after he was arrested in Honduras and extradited to the United States.
US asks Honduras to arrest, extradite ex-President Hernández
Read full article: US asks Honduras to arrest, extradite ex-President HernándezThe United States has formally requested the arrest and extradition of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández on drug and weapons charges less than three weeks after he left office.
Migrant caravan from Honduras stopped in Guatemala
Read full article: Migrant caravan from Honduras stopped in GuatemalaSeveral hundred migrants who had departed from the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula in hopes of reaching the United States entered Guatemalan territory where they were intercepted by authorities who began talks on returning them to their homelands.
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Hundreds of new migrants still being expelled to Mexico as Joe Biden keeps one of Donald Trump's controversial policies
Read full article: Hundreds of new migrants still being expelled to Mexico as Joe Biden keeps one of Donald Trump's controversial policiesMigrants apprehended crossing the Rio Grande in Brownsville were flown to El Paso for processing and then deported to Ciudad Juárez. CIUDAD JUÁREZ — As he stood on the international bridge that connects this border city with El Paso Tuesday afternoon, Javier Leyva had to be told where he was. Migrants that were flown from Brownsville and deported to Ciudad Juárez in Mexico waited at the Juárez Migrant Assistance Center on Wednesday. The former president’s policies forced tens of thousands of migrants back into Mexico, which filled shelters in border cities like Ciudad Juárez and stressed social service agencies who help migrants. She had tried to cross into the U.S. through Ciudad Juárez before, but was sent back.
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US wants life in prison for brother of Honduras president
Read full article: US wants life in prison for brother of Honduras president“The defendant was a Honduran congressman who, along with his brother Juan Orlando Hernández, played a leadership role in a violent, state sponsored drug trafficking conspiracy,” prosecutors wrote. AdThe U.S. government wants Tony Hernández to give up $138.5 million in “blood money” from his drug trafficking and pay an additional $10 million fine. They say he also sold weapons to drug traffickers, some of which came from Honduras’ military, and controlled drug laboratories in Colombia and Honduras. They allege that among those bribes was $1 million from notorious Mexican capo Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman to Juan Orlando Hernández. In those, Fuentes admitted knowing drug traffickers but denied having paid any money to president Hernández.
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Accountant testifies he saw Honduras president take bribes
Read full article: Accountant testifies he saw Honduras president take bribesThe accountant said he felt fear seeing Hernández and a drug trafficker sitting at the same table. “I was seeing the candidate for the presidency meeting with a drug trafficker,” he said. That alleged drug trafficker was Geovanny Fuentes Ramírez, whose New York trial is in its second week. The accountant testified that that movement of drugs would be done with the help of the military and police. In another meeting at the company’s offices without Fuentes Ramírez present, Hernández boasted about siphoning money from Honduras’ social security system, the accountant testified.
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US prosecutors allege Honduras president helped move drugs
Read full article: US prosecutors allege Honduras president helped move drugs“They plotted to send as much cocaine as possible to the United States,” Gutwillig said of the president and Fuentes Ramírez. But much of the prosecutors’ artillery appears aimed at Hernández, who they said helped Fuentes Ramírez’s drug trafficking along with other high-ranking officials. Prosecutors have previously said that Fuentes Ramírez paid Hernández $25,000 to be allowed to move drugs through the country without interference. He says that the allegations against him come from drug traffickers seeking revenge and looking to lighten their sentences. He has said Fuentes Ramírez had weapons and body guards because Honduras is a dangerous country.
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Honduras leader warns drug cooperation with US endangered
Read full article: Honduras leader warns drug cooperation with US endangeredFILE - In this Aug. 13, 2019 file photo, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez speaks to the reporters as he leaves a meeting at the Organization of American States, in Washington. Newly proposed U.S. legislation introduced Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, targets Orlando Hernandez as allegations of ties to drug trafficking grow. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)TEGUCIGALPÁ – TEGUCIGALPÁHonduran President Juan Orlando Hernández says that antinarcotics cooperation with the United States could “collapse” if U.S. authorities believe “false testimony” accusing him of cooperating with traffickers. Earlier this month, U.S. prosecutors filed documents in an upcoming trial suggesting the president himself was under investigation. One of his numerous brothers, Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernández, was convicted in New York of a drug conspiracy in 2019.
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Honduras leader warns drug cooperation with US endangered
Read full article: Honduras leader warns drug cooperation with US endangeredFILE - In this Aug. 13, 2019 file photo, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez speaks to the reporters as he leaves a meeting at the Organization of American States, in Washington. Newly proposed U.S. legislation introduced Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, targets Orlando Hernandez as allegations of ties to drug trafficking grow. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)TEGUCIGALPÁ – TEGUCIGALPÁHonduran President Juan Orlando Hernández warned Wednesday that antinarcotics cooperation with the United States could “collapse” if U.S. authorities believe “false testimony” in U.S. courts accusing him of cooperating with traffickers. He suggested that traffickers were trying to manipulate U.S. authorities into helping them take vengeance on the Honduran officials pursuing them. One of his numerous brothers, Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernández, was convicted in New York of a drug conspiracy in 2019.
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Proposed US legislation would target Honduras president
Read full article: Proposed US legislation would target Honduras presidentFILE - In this Aug. 13, 2019 file photo, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez speaks to the reporters as he leaves a meeting at the Organization of American States, in Washington. Newly proposed U.S. legislation introduced Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, targets Orlando Hernandez as allegations of ties to drug trafficking grow. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)MEXICO CITY – Newly proposed U.S. legislation targets Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández as allegations of ties to drug trafficking grow. As the administration of President Joe Biden seeks to return the issues of corruption and human rights to relations with Honduras and other Central American countries, a group of Democratic senators says the U.S. government’s relationship with Honduras must change. Under the administration of President Donald Trump, immigration overshadowed everything else in the relationship.
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Migrants in “remain in Mexico” program will soon be allowed to enter the United States, federal agency says
Read full article: Migrants in “remain in Mexico” program will soon be allowed to enter the United States, federal agency saysLaunched by the Trump administration, the Migrant Protection Protocols forced asylum seekers to wait in Mexico border towns for their hearings in American courtrooms. Officials in Mexico have said that many migrants have since gone back home or decided to cross illegally instead of waiting. AdThe DHS advised asylum seekers in the program to remain where they are for now while a virtual registration process is rolled out next week. Asylum seekers will be tested for COVID-19 before being allowed to cross the border. “This latest action is another step in our commitment to reform immigration policies that do not align with our nation’s values,” said DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
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Large migrant caravan dissolves in Guatemala
Read full article: Large migrant caravan dissolves in GuatemalaA Honduran migrant child is helped off a Guatemalan army truck after being returned to El Florido, Guatemala, one of the border points between Guatemala and Honduras, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021. A once large caravan of Honduran migrants that pushed its way into Guatemala last week had dissipated by Tuesday in the face of Guatemalan security forces. (AP Photo/Oliver de Ros)EL FLORIDO – A once large caravan of Honduran migrants that pushed its way into Guatemala last week had dissipated by Tuesday in the face of Guatemalan security forces. They were passed from Guatemalan border agents to their Honduran counterparts and then boarded buses that would take them back to their hometowns. Guatemalan forces effectively dissolved multiple migrant caravans last year.
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Guatemala troops, police break up caravan of weary migrants
Read full article: Guatemala troops, police break up caravan of weary migrantsGuatemalan soldiers and police block Honduran migrants from advancing toward the US border, on the highway in Vado Hondo, Guatemala, Monday, Jan. 18, 2021. Some migrants threw rocks while authorities launched tear gas and pushed the migrants with their riot shields back down the highway. Their ranks have reduced through attrition as some migrants have agreed to be bused back to the Honduran border. In total, some 8,000 to 9,000 Honduran migrants were believed to have entered Guatemala in the year’s first caravan after departing from San Pedro Sula, Honduras early Friday. “We are proposing that they seek a dialogue with the migrants, in Honduras, Guatemala,” President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Monday.
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Guatemala forces stall migrant caravan with tear gas, batons
Read full article: Guatemala forces stall migrant caravan with tear gas, batonsHonduran migrants clash with Guatemalan soldiers in Vado Hondo, Guatemala, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2021. Guatemalan authorities estimated that as many as 9,000 Honduran migrants crossed into Guatemala as part of an effort to form a new caravan to reach the U.S. border. (AP Photo/Sandra Sebastian)VADO HONDO – Guatemalan police and soldiers launched tear gas and wielded batons and shields against a group of Honduran migrants that tried to push through their roadblock early Sunday. The roadblock was strategically placed at a chokepoint on the two-lane highway to Chiquimula in an area known as Vado Hondo. The security forces beat them back and deployed tear gas.
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Guatemala tries blocking caravan of 9,000 Honduran migrants
Read full article: Guatemala tries blocking caravan of 9,000 Honduran migrantsHonduran migrants hoping to reach the U.S. border rest on the side of a highway, as soldiers patrol the road in Vado Hondo, Guatemala, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021. Guatemalan authorities estimated that as many as 9,000 Honduran migrants crossed into Guatemala as part of an effort to form a new caravan to reach the U.S. border. (AP Photo/Sandra Sebastian)GUATEMALA CITY – Guatemalan soldiers blocked part of a caravan of as many as 9,000 Honduran migrants Saturday at a point not far from where they entered the country seeking to reach the U.S. border. On Friday night, two groups of more than 3,000 Honduran migrants each pushed their way into Guatemala without registering, part of a larger migrant caravan that had left the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula before dawn. The Honduran migrants are trying to cross Guatemala to reach Mexico, driven by deepening poverty and the hope of a warmer reception if they can reach the United States border.
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Mexican president defends restrictive immigration policies
Read full article: Mexican president defends restrictive immigration policiesMexican President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador on Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020 defended Mexicos restrictive immigration policy, which has prevented many Central American migrants from crossing Mexico to reach the U.S. border. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)MEXICO CITY – Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Thursday defended Mexico’s restrictive immigration policy, which has prevented many Central American migrants from crossing Mexico to reach the U.S. border. Mexico has sent National Guard officers and immigration agents to the southern border with Guatemala to prevent migrant caravans from entering Mexico and detain those who do manage to cross. “We have protected migrants, there have been no violations of their human rights," López Obrador said. “It was our own decision, that we made, foreign governments do not impose anything on us,” the president said.
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Honduran national charged after nearly 30 human smuggling victims rescued from Houston home
Read full article: Honduran national charged after nearly 30 human smuggling victims rescued from Houston homeHOUSTON – A Honduran national was charged Friday in connection with the discovery of nearly 30 victims of human smuggling in a southwest Houston home. RELATED READ: Woman’s cousin among 30 people rescued in human smuggling operation in HoustonInvestigators said the victims, who were from Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Cuba, reported they were picked up in Brownsville between two days and a week ago. Prosecutors said the home where the victims were being kept had boarded-up windows and deadbolt locks on the interior doors. Dominguez-Maldonado, who is charged with harboring illegal aliens, is accused of watching over the victims and performing other actions in the furtherance of a human smuggling operation. Police said the victims were evaluated at a nearby school gymnasium before being transported to an immigration facility.
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Former DHS official says he wrote 'Anonymous' Trump critique
Read full article: Former DHS official says he wrote 'Anonymous' Trump critiqueThis March 27, 2018, provided by the Department of Homeland Security, then-Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen and then-Department of Homeland Security chief of staff Miles Taylor, right, meet with Honduran President Juan Hernandez, not pictured, and security ministers from the Northern Triangle countries in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Taylor, a former Trump administration official who penned a scathing anti-Trump op-ed and book under the pen name Anonymous made his identify public Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020. (Tim Godbee/Department of Homeland Security via AP)
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Many in migrant caravan bused back to Honduran border
Read full article: Many in migrant caravan bused back to Honduran borderEarly Saturday, hundreds of migrants who had entered Guatemala this week without registering were being bused back to their country's border by authorities after running into a large roadblock. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)RIO DULCE – Hundreds of U.S.-bound Honduran migrants who had entered Guatemala this week without registering were being bused back to their country's border Saturday by authorities who met them with a large roadblock. Police said that hours earlier, migrants had boarded buses and army trucks to be taken back to the border. They heard about the caravan that formed earlier this week in San Pedro Sula via WhatsApp and Facebook. I don’t know to whose benefit, but we’re not naive.”The new group was reminiscent of a migrant caravan that formed two years ago shortly before U.S. midterm elections.
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Migrants cross Guatemala despite government threats
Read full article: Migrants cross Guatemala despite government threatsA new caravan of about 2,000 migrants set out from neighboring Honduras in hopes of reaching the United States. But further ahead on the highway through northern Guatemala, about 1,000 migrants met a police and army roadblock late Friday that prevented them from advancing. On Thursday, Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei vowed to return the migrants to Honduras, citing efforts to contain the pandemic. Hundreds of migrants crossed into Mexico, were allowed to walk for several hours up a rural highway and then detained. Even if the migrants were allowed to cross Mexico without interference, the U.S. has essentially closed its border to legal immigration and entering illegally is as difficult as ever.
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Hundreds of Honduran migrants set out for US amid pandemic
Read full article: Hundreds of Honduran migrants set out for US amid pandemicHonduran migrants hoping to reach the U.S. entered Guatemala on foot Thursday, testing the newly reopened frontier that had been shut due to the new coronavirus pandemic. Guatemala’s president quickly vowed to detain them and return them to Honduras, saying the migrants represented a threat to the health of Guatemalans amid efforts to contain the pandemic. In one group were four teenagers, all friends and neighbors from San Pedro Sula, from which hundreds of migrants had set out the previous night. Mexico and the United States deported hundreds of migrants back to their home countries to try to empty detention centers. Mexico has typically offered migrants the opportunity to seek asylum there, but many have their minds set on the United States.
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ICE detainee from Honduras dies from coronavirus complications at Conroe hospital, officials say
Read full article: ICE detainee from Honduras dies from coronavirus complications at Conroe hospital, officials sayCONROE, Texas A 50-year-old Honduran man being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has died from coronavirus complications at a Conroe hospital, officials announced Wednesday. ICE officials said Fernando Sabonger-Garcia was transferred to Conroe Regional Medical Center on July 26 from the Joe Corley Processing Center after exhibiting COVID-19-related symptoms. A COVID-19 test was administered by CRMC medical staff on July 26 and came back positive the same day, officials said. He suffered respiratory failure and was pronounced dead on Aug. 28 at 11 a.m. by medical professionals at CRMC, officials said. According to officials, Sabonger-Garcia entered ICE custody July 7 after being transferred from the U.S.