Honduran immigrants
Honduran immigrants represent a significant and growing demographic in the United States, with their numbers increasing from around 237,000 in 2000 to approximately 1.15 million by 2021. This surge, particularly notable during the first decade of the twenty-first century, has roots in a combination of historical, economic, and environmental factors. Many Hondurans emigrate due to dire economic conditions, with a large portion of the population living below the poverty line and facing high levels of illiteracy and chronic malnutrition. Natural disasters, notably Hurricane Mitch in 1998, exacerbated these issues, leading to widespread displacement and further prompting migration.
Hondurans often undertake perilous journeys through Guatemala and Mexico to reach the United States, facing risks such as violence and exploitation. Once in the U.S., they form transnational communities that maintain ties with their homeland while contributing economically through remittances, which significantly impact family livelihoods back in Honduras. However, this immigration pattern also correlates with challenges, including the rise of youth gangs and complex political narratives surrounding immigration policy. As of the 2020s, Honduran migration continues to be a focal point of political discourse, reflecting ongoing struggles for economic opportunity and safety.
Honduran immigrants
SIGNIFICANCE: Honduran immigration into the United States is a relatively recent phenomenon, but the 81 percent increase of Hondurans coming into the country during the first decade of the twenty-first century was the largest of any immigrant group. Their numbers rose from approximately 237,000 in 2000 to 940,000 in 2017, representing a 296 percent increase over those two decades.
Honduras, along with Guatemala and El Salvador, forms part of the "Northern Triangle" of Latin American countries. This region is one of historic turbulence and population displacement. Uniting these countries are events that coalesced from the 1960s through the 1980s. Poor land distribution, particularly in El Salvador, led to over-crowding and migrants that squatted on Honduran territory. This led, in part, to a four-day conflict between the two countries in 1969. Other common events were civil wars which pitted communist insurgencies against security forces where the US oftentimes backed right-wing governments. From the late 1970s through the mid-1980s, Nicaragua provided sanctuary for communist guerillas to operate against the government of El Salvador. Honduras did likewise for insurgents fighting Nicaragua's own government. Guatemala conducted a brutal, almost three-decades-long civil war that began in 1960 and concluded in 1995. Also in the 1990s, following the ostensible triumph of democratic movements in the region, the transcendence of narcotics trafficking occurred and with it the rise of transnational gangs. The combination of these factors, along with endemic poverty, caused immigration to the United States to be a viable option.
Until the fourth decade of the twentieth century, U.S. Census data did not count immigrants from individual Central American nations. In any case, the number of Hondurans immigrating to the United States before 1930 was small, and even during the decade of the 1930s, only 679 Hondurans entered the country legally. The number of immigrants remained low into the 1960s, when a significant increase began. During that decade, 15,078 Hondurans were granted legal permanent resident status in the United States. By the last year of the twentieth century, an average of more than 7,100 new immigrants per year were coming from Honduras. By 2013, the American Community Survey recorded a total of 781,000 residents of Honduran origin living in the United States; 21 percent of the Honduran immigrants among them were US citizens. By 2021, that number had jumped to 1,148 209. However, these numbers do not necessarily include the large numbers of undocumented immigrants.
Many of the most recent Honduran immigrants to enter the United States legally were granted temporary protected status because of the devastation in Central America left by Hurricane Mitch in 1998. That status was extended several times, including an extension to July 2016; it grants work authorization and protection from deportation but does not assure permanent residency. As many as 80,000 Hondurans came to the United States under temporary protected status.
Push-Pull Factors
A combination of economic hardship and natural disasters has led to the increase in Honduran immigration. Most Hondurans are small-scale farmers with an average income of only $1,700 per year. As of 2018, it was estimated that 64 percent of all Hondurans were living below the poverty line. Illiteracy is high, and chronic malnutrition is common among children.
The 1998 arrival of Hurricane Mitch in Central America proved to be one of the worst natural disasters ever to hit Honduras. The hurricane caused great additional economic hardships in what was already a desperately poor country. Entire fruit fields were destroyed, resulting in the departure of many multinational fruit companies that were important employers. Record amounts of rainfall caused mudslides that wiped out entire villages. Back roads and bridges were destroyed, and as much as 70 to 80 percent of the national transportation infrastructure was ruined. Seven thousand people died, and more than 20 percent of the entire population was left homeless after the hurricane. During the months directly following the hurricane, the U.S. Border Patrol reported a 61 percent increase in captures of Hondurans trying to cross the border into the United States.
Hondurans in the United States
Honduran transnational communities strive to maintain ties with their hometowns while creating new homes for themselves in the United States. The flow of migrants has a direct impact on Honduran communities in both countries, creating an exchange of cultures that changes both. Honduran residents of the United States account for 40 percent of all tourism revenue in Honduras.
Many Hondurans work in the United States in order to send remittances to relatives still in Honduras. In 2021, the World Bank reported that $344 million in remittances were sent to Honduras by workers in the United States. Remittances directly affect the receiving families, lifting many of them out of poverty. They also add to the economic disparity in communities, creating a clear distinction between those who receive them and those who do not. However, some observers feel that remittances can create a dependence on charity that does little to improve the economic development of Honduras.
Hondurans who try to travel to the United States to find work face difficult and dangerous journeys that require passing through Guatemala and Mexico. Peril and discomforts include rape, exposure to severe heat in desert areas, long separations from family, robbery, accidents, and even murder. Engaging professional guides known as “coyotes” can cost as much as five thousand dollars. It was estimated that only 25 percent of the approximately 80,000 Hondurans who had tried to reach the United States each year since 1998 had succeeded. In 2018, a caravan of about 6,000 Honduran migrants fleeing poverty and gang violence made its way from Honduras to the US border with Mexico, where some of them applied for asylum. Others, discouraged by the lengthy waiting list, remained in Mexico or returned to Honduras.
Many of the Hondurans who have immigrated to the United States have flourished. However, a less positive result of Honduran immigration has been the development of youth gangs. During the 1990s, the U.S. government targeted undocumented residents in the penal system for deportation. Many of these former criminals were also gang members who recommenced their gangster lifestyle upon return to Honduras, creating transnational ties with gangs in the United States.
2020s: Immigration as a Political Football
In the 2020s, Hondurans provided steady inflows of migrants to the United States in search of economic prosperity. This situation had persisted for decades. Although anti-immigrant expressions had always existed in the United States, in the first decades of the twenty-first century, these proliferated with particular vehemence. By the mid-2020s, American sentiments had turned against immigration. American policies and laws reflected this changed political environment. Media reporting also contributed to this narrative, with the symbol of "caravans" taking on increased scrutiny. For example, in January 2024, a reported caravan of approximately 300 people departed San Pedro Sula, Honduras, with the US southern border as its reported destination. Publicity and apprehension, such as accompanied a weather storm warning, emerged before the caravan left Honduras 1500 miles away from the US border. Other migrant journeys were similarly broadcasted throughout 2024.
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