Many Central American migrants are fleeing violence and poverty in their home countries. In Honduras, the homicide rate is one of the highest in the world (41.2 per 100,000 in 20201). And in El Salvador, nearly a quarter of the population lives in poverty. It is not just violence and poverty that are driving Central Americans to migrate. According to the UN, the prevalence of hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean is 9.1% — a 15 year high.
In an story for the Chicago Sun Times Lourdes Gouveia, a professor emeritus of the University of Nebraska at Omaha noted: