DHS FACT SHEET: DHS AGREEMENTS WITH GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, AND EL SALVADOR

The U.S. government has been hard at work cobbling together agreements with Central American nations on asylum that attempt to reduce the number of asylum seekers who seek to enter the United States at its southern border with Mexico.  This Department of Homeland Security "FACT SHEET: DHS AGREEMENTS WITH GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, AND EL SALVADOR" offers the official rationale for those agreements.  Here is the gist of the U.S. government's explanation of the need for the agreements:

"The number of migrants moving from the northern region of Central America through Mexico to the United States has created a security and humanitarian crisis at our Southwest border. Many of these migrants are vulnerable populations from the Northern Triangle countries, exploited by transnational criminal organizations and pushed into the very long and dangerous journey. DHS is seizing a historic opportunity to work with our partners in the region to help identify and confront many of the problems that allow for human smuggling and trafficking to occur and to provide vulnerable populations protection as close to home as possible."

KJ