@JLeslie – This is a huge subject that requires some discussion of history. But most important and relevant to those of us in the US is the fact that we contribute to the violence and horrors that go on in these countries. It’s not just a lack of empathy that some people feel regarding immigrants and asylum seekers. We (you and I) are contributing to the fact that these people need to flee their countries in the first place.
@JLeslie: “Good God. Why don’t we talk more about these countries in the news? We talked about many of the horrors in Syria. Is it because this has been going on a long time in Central America.”
Honduras, in particular, has generated quite a bit of discussion in the past few years due to Clinton supporting the coup and justifying turning Honduran children away. Read up on Zelaya, the coup, Berta Cáceres and other activists in Hondura.
And Guatemala, while dealing with volcanic activity currently, is not immune from the hand of the US, including the CIA coup.
People like to talk about these Latin American countries as though the economic and human rights realities were inevitable, just happened, or are all self-induced. The US needs to take in anyone who flees these countries not just because it would be the right (and human) thing to do. We need to bring them in because we helped do this to them. They have more of a right to be here than natural born citizens, who have blood on their hands.