A newly released US Senate report details an unauthorized operation in which US border agents working in Guatemala detained Honduran migrants seeking refuge in the US and forcibly returned them back to Honduras. The unauthorized operation occurred last January, according to a review by Democrats sitting on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The agents were formerly in Guatemala to help train police in efforts such as counter-narcotics.
Honduran immigrants seeking asylum crossed the Honduras-Guatemala border when they were stopped by US Customs and Border Protection, who rented three buses and set off to halt the caravan before it reached the US border. With Guatemalan authorities, the US agents reportedly loaded the migrants onto rented buses and returned them to Honduras. This represents a massive breach of rights, as the asylum seekers were not even offered the chance to apply and seek refuge from dangerous conditions in Honduras. The Customs and Border Protection agency also violated limits imposed on them by the US that prohibit enforcement operations abroad.
Read More: U.S. Agents Returned Migrants to Honduras in Unauthorized Operation, Senate Report Says
