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                      HRW: US Returning Migrants to Danger

   by VOA News

   Human Rights Watch said the U.S. government's "rapid fire screening" at
   its border is discriminating against Central Americans, resulting in
   their deportation "without a genuine opportunity to claim asylum."

   A 44-page [1]report details the U.S. border policies and practices that
   place migrants at risk of serious harm back home.

   HRW said the data it received from the U.S. government revealed that
   few Central American migrants are identified by the border patrol as
   people fearing return to their country. At least 80 percent of
   Hondurans who arrived between 2011 and 2012 were placed in summary
   removal proceedings, with only 1.9 percent flagged as possible asylum
   seekers. HRW said the percentages for people from Mexico, El Salvador
   and Guatemala were similar, ranging from 0.1 to 5.5 percent.

   However, HRW said the border patrol flagged 21 percent of migrants from
   other countries during the same period for secondary, in-depth
   screening for asylum.

   Clara Long, HRW's U.S. immigration researcher and author of the report,
   said "in the U.S. frenzy to stem the tide of migrants from Central
   America, the U.S. is sending asylum seekers back to the threat of
   murder, rape and other violence."

   U.S. officials have not yet commented on the Human Rights Watch report.
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   [2]http://www.voanews.com/content/hrw-us-returning-migrants-to-danger/2
   486777.html

References

   1. http://www.hrw.org/node/129879
   2. http://www.voanews.com/content/hrw-us-returning-migrants-to-danger/2486777.html