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Migrant Advocates Call for Reset with Honduras
Washington, DC: A delegation of leaders of migrant-led organizations called for a reset in U.S.-Honduras relations, as President-elect Xiomara Castro is set to assume power in Honduras on January 27. The delegation represents a coalition of some 55 migrant-led organizations across the United States. The delegation is visiting Honduras this week, in order to meet with administration officials and civil society leaders, and call attention to the need to prioritize establishing a productive partnership with the Biden White House, in order to advance joint efforts to address the root causes of migration. As seen with the turmoil with Honduras’s Congress over the weekend, collaborating with Congress will be hugely challenging for the Castro administration, and will pose significant obstacles. Additionally, the Castro administration will face budgetary challenges, including a growing fiscal deficit. Still, there will be many viable reforms that the Castro administration can pursue via executive action and through foreign policy. “The Honduran diaspora in the U.S. has a message for the Xiomara Castro administration: we know firsthand the painful cost of being forced to migrate, because of intolerable conditions back home,” said Mirtha Colón, a Garifuna leader originally from Honduras, who currently serves as president of the Alianza Americas Board of Directors. “This new political era in Honduras is an opportunity for a reset, in order to center policies that create a more equitable Honduras where everyone can live with dignity and in peace.” “This new government introduces a ray of hope for Hondurans at home and abroad,” said Oscar Chacón, director of Alianza Americas. “Vice President Kamala Harris’s visit to Honduras this week is indicative of how the Biden White House sees new opportunities for productive engagement with President Castro’s administration. The relationship with the Biden administration should be leveraged in favor of a rigorous addressing of corruption, poverty and violence, and climate change impacts that are driving migration. By doing so, President Xiomara Castro’s administration can make headway in addressing migration’s root causes.” “It’s time for Honduras to close the chapter on the appalling authoritarian and corrupt regime of the Juan Orlando Hernández years,” said Patricia Montes, executive director of Centro Presente. “For a new dawn in Honduras, the Castro administration must do everything within its power to work with international partners in re-establishing an international anti-corruption commission in Honduras.” “For too long, Indigenous, Afro-descendant, and Garifuna communities in Honduras have faced marginalization and exclusion in Honduras,” said José Daniel Hernández of CARECEN San Francisco. “The Castro administration must prioritize including and elevating these voices.” The delegation includes: Mirtha Colón Mirtha Colón is originally from Honduras and has lived in New York for almost 40 years. She currently serves as president of the Alianza Americas Board of Directors; she also heads Hondurans Against AIDS in New York. She also serves as president of the Black Central American Organization (Organización Negra Centroamericana, ONECA), which fights for human rights and social justice for Central Americans of African descent.
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Oscar Chacón Oscar Chacón is co-founder and executive director of Alianza Americas. He has
Mirtha Colón Oscar Chacón
José Daniel Hernández Patricia Montes
been an advocate for the economic, social, political, and cultural rights of all people for more than three decades, with an emphasis on migrants. Oscar has been a pioneer in promoting advocacy strategies conceived from a transnational perspective.
Patricia Montes Patricia Montes is the executive director of Centro Presente, one of the longest standing immigrant-led, immigrant rights organizations in Massachusetts. Patricia earned her degree in journalism from the National Autonomous University in Honduras and is a recognized immigrant rights leader and a tireless advocate for just economic and social policies, including a just U.S. immigration policy.
José Daniel Hernández José Hernández is the director of the Second Chance Youth Program for the Central American Resource Center of Northern California (CARECEN San Francisco). He was born in Los Angeles and was raised in the Bay Area by Honduran parents. José received his B.A. in Latin American Studies from UCLA in 2010, and received his Master’s of Public Health in Community Education from SFSU in 2019. While at SFSU, José dedicated his studies to critically analyzing the criminalization and incarceration of young people through a public health lens.l
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Know Your Rights with ICE
If approached by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents, you have rights! What can I do if ICE is at my door?
• You do not have to immediately open the door for ICE and you do not have to speak to ICE. • From behind the closed door, you may ask them who they are and to show their badge, ID or business card through the window or peephole or to pass it under the closed door. • You can ask if they have a judicial warrant:
If they say No, you do not have to let them in. You may say,
If they say Yes, you can ask them to slide it under the door. To know if it is a judicial warrant, look to see who signed the warrant. A judicial warrant is a warrant from a court, signed by a judge. For example, judge signatures may have “Honorable/Hon.” “Judge” “Justice” or “Magistrate” in front of them.
• In an emergency, such as a threat to public safety or a threat to someone’s life, ICE can come in without asking your permission. If this happens, you still do not have to speak to ICE. • If ICE is looking for someone, you do not need to speak. If you choose to speak, you can ask ICE to leave contact information. While you do not need to tell ICE where the person is located, providing false information puts you at risk.
What can I do if ICE is inside my home?
• If ICE enters your home without your permission, you can tell them clearly: “I do not consent to you being in my home. Please leave.” Saying this may not always stop them, but it may help any future legal case. • If ICE starts to search rooms or items in your home, you can tell them, “I do not consent to your search.” You can continue to repeat this if they continue to search without consent. • You can tell them if there are children or other vulnerable residents in your home.
What can I do if ICE stops me on the street or in public?
• Before you say anything, you can ask, “Am I free to go?”
If they say Yes: you can say,
“I don’t want to answer your questions”
If they say No: you can say,
If ICE agents try to search your pockets or belongings, you can say,
If they search you anyway, you cannot physically stop them, but clearly saying it may be important in any future legal case.
This fact sheet gives only general information. It is not legal advice. Consult an attorney for legal advice. English Call 855-768-8845 for a FREE Immigration Consultation
NEW YORK: Elected officials and community leaders from across New York applauded Mayor Eric Adams “Blueprint to End Gun Violence” in New York City. Here’s what they said:
New York Governor Kathy Hochul “Too many lives have been lost. Too many live in fear. We have a moral obligation to confront the gun violence epidemic, and that means working with leaders at all levels of government to keep New Yorkers safe,” said New York Governor Kathy Hochul. “Glad to have a public safety partner in [Mayor Adams].”
U.S. Representative Gregory W. Meeks “We have lost too many of our sons and daughters to the epidemic of gun violence," said U.S. Representative Gregory W. Meeks. "Mayor Adams' plan to combat this public health crisis is a real jolt of leadership at a critical time, and I will be a partner in this pursuit of public safety.”
NYC Council Speaker Adrienne Adams “We appreciate the mayor’s focus on the epidemic of violence our city faces and the need for multiple solutions, as the problem is complex and requires multifaceted approaches,” said New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams. “An important way we can support the NYPD in its efforts to improve public safety is by expanding our commitment to complementary public safety work by other stakeholders in every city agency and community partner that can help prevent crime and violence — this plan starts to recognize that reality. We strongly welcome the mayor’s focus on strengthening community-based violence prevention programs, mental health care, and investments in youth employment — and we’re glad these are so central to the plan and conversation, providing a great starting point. The mayor’s advocacy for action on gun control in Washington and efforts to target gun trafficking is also critical.”
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg “We have lost too many loved ones to gun violence, and these incidents have traumatized families and created fear throughout the city,” said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. “Combatting gun violence is a top priority for our office and I applaud Mayor Adams’ leadership, commitment, and focus on stopping gun violence. We will partner with him and all who will join us in the urgent tasks of getting drivers of crime off our streets, cutting off the flow of illegal guns to our city, and building up community-based supports for people who are struggling.”
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York “I’m pleased to read of Mayor Adams' efforts to remove illegal guns from our streets and offer more protection to the heroic men and women of the NYPD,” said Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York. “Our political leaders have our prayerful support as they work to protect the safety and dignity of every person’s life.”
Stephanie McGraw, Founder, We All Really Matter (W.A.R.M.) “Domestic violence and gun violence are tragically linked far too often, as we just saw with the senseless shooting of two police officers in Harlem,” said Stephanie McGraw, founder, We All Really Matter (W.A.R.M.). “We stand with Mayor Adams as he takes on this public health crisis with his ‘Blueprint to End Gun Violence.’”
Jackie Rowe-Adams, Co-founder, Harlem Mothers S.A.V.E. “On behalf of mothers and families
The Blueprint to End Gun Violence
Download the Blueprint at www.ijlef.org across this city who have lost loved ones to senseless gun violence, I thank Mayor Adams for his bold leadership in our city’s hour of need,” said Jackie RoweAdams, co-founder, Harlem Mothers S.A.V.E. “As our mayor says, ‘he’s not new to this, he’s true to this.’ Mayor Adams has been in our streets with us for years, shoulder-to-shoulder with activists and violence interrupters demanding an end to the violence. Now, in his first days as mayor, he is prioritizing this issue with a plan that is comprehensive and common-sense.” l
