FILE PHOTO: Honduras’ President Juan Orlando Hernandez speaks during a news conference at the Presidential House in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, August 19, 2019. REUTERS/Jorge Cabrera/File Photo
September 23, 2019
TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) – Honduras will sign an agreement with Cuba to deport Cubans who arrive in the Central American country illegally en route to the United States, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez said on Sunday.
The announcement comes as the United States presses Central American countries and Mexico to do more to curb the waves of migrants reaching the United States’ southern border.
“With Cuba, we are about to sign an agreement at this time that if an irregular migrant Cuban appears, we will immediately return him to Cuba,” Hernandez said during an interview on local television that aired Sunday night.
The United States and Honduras said in a joint statement on Saturday that they are discussing how to increase temporary legal employment opportunities for Hondurans in the United States as they hammer out details of an immigration agreement.
The governments are due to continue discussions this week, according to the joint statement.
(Reporting by Gustavo Palencia; Writing by Julia Love; Editing by Richard Borsuk)
