politics
Deportation Flights to Honduras Increase to Daily Pace
Five planes delivered 479 deportees in shackles to La Lima over three days in late March 2026 as daily flights replaced a prior schedule of five per week. The Atlantic reported that 24 of 40 interviewed deportees left children in the United States, most saying they were never asked about being a parent. ICE held 60,000 people in custody as of early April, 71 percent with no criminal convictions.
May 15, 7:00 AM·4m read1 source
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Deportation flights to La Lima, Honduras, now arrive every day, often more than once, after operating five days a week for more than 20 years. Over three days in late March, five planes delivered 479 people in shackles to a private airstrip. The Atlantic reported the accelerated pace has overwhelmed a reception center overseen by Sister Idalina Bordignon.
Early one morning behind the airport in La Lima, before the first planeload of deportees landed, Sister Idalina Bordignon met with her staff about parents arriving daily without their children. They asked what to do if they do not know where their child is.
An American aid worker suggested a quick analysis of each case at the La Lima reception center to determine which agencies or nonprofits might help families.
Of the 40 people interviewed outside the reception center in La Lima, 24 said they had to leave children behind in the United States. Most of the 24 deportees interviewed who left children behind said they were never asked about being a parent. Fifteen of the children left behind by the 24 interviewed deportees were younger than 5 years old and four were infants.
Claudia, a 39-year-old single mother from Honduras, was deported and arrived in La Lima in late March 2026. She fled Honduras in 2023 because her ex-partner’s girlfriend was stalking and physically attacking her, then settled in Atlanta with her 11-year-old son. Claudia was arrested in December for driving without a license and spent three and a half months in ICE detention.
“I really wanted to bring him with me,” Claudia said. ICE was holding 60,000 people in custody as of early April.
