Vice President’s Conference on Central America and Administration’s Failure to Address Life and Death Protection Issues

Statement by Eric Schwartz, President of Refugees International:

“I welcome Vice President Pence’s co-hosting of the second Conference for Prosperity and Security in Central America. But in the context of a conference addressing security, it is appalling that the Administration’s public statements about the conference have not specifically addressed the critical need to protect the lives of women, men, and children being returned to Central America. Nor have the statements acknowledged the dangers that would be faced by hundreds of thousands of Central Americans whose temporary protected status is at risk. Refugees International has documented fatal flaws in the U.S. asylum process, as well as failures by governments in Central America to protect returnees. These failures are the elephant in the room, and the conference outcomes must include a plan for serious protection of these vulnerable women, men, and children.” 

For more information, refer to the February 2018 Refugees International field report, “Putting Lives At Risk: Protection Failures Affecting Hondurans And Salvadorans Deported From The United States And Mexico.”