This is a Place for Poor PeopleConditions at Honduran Dump Explains Immigration Surge to the United States
Editor’s Note: In the second largest garbage dump in Honduras, some 200 families scavenge the 500 tons of refuse each day in order to survive. For New America Media content producer and YO! Youth Outlook Multimedia editor Josue Rojas, a visit to the dump gives him new insights on the immigration issue in America.
SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras — “I’m here because of necessity.” These are the words of a Salvadoran woman who had recently been swept up in an ICE raid along with an entire Honduran family on September 11, 2008 in San Francisco's Visitacion Valley. I was on the scene as a reporter documenting one of the first raids in San Francisco since the city's sanctuary status toward migrants came under fire.
One month later, I can’t get her voice out of my head as I walk through the second largest landfill in Honduras. I've always heard people say they left their country of origin because they needed to -- never did it make more sense than when I visited this place.
The thick black smoke of burned rubber fills the air with noxious fumes. A young man kneels patiently as the rubber insulation slowly melts away from a small mound of copper wire.
For him, today is payday. After spending three days sifting through literally tons of trash, dismantling discarded household appliances and refrigerators, he has scavenged enough discarded copper wiring to make around 80 Lempiras ($4).
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=59ee98b7efdeb93d541cd9e41836084c">New American Media- read more video content at the link too. Very good presentation overall.