La Prensa Grafica (El Salvador)
Little girls in braids, boys with cowboy hats and tennis shoes — with their parents they came to the court of immigration judge Frank Travieso in Los Angeles to learn how long they could stay in the United States. ... He told them to come back in February.
This scene could become more frequent because the immigration courts, already overwhelmed with their work backlog, are preparing to receive the wave of Central American immigrants who have crossed the border from Mexico in recent months.
The workload that has accumulated in the courts is so heavy that a hearing could be delayed for up to three years, and many fear the situation will get worse in the coming months. For many migrants, the delay works in their favor because they know how much time they will have before their case is resolved.
The immigration courts have been overwhelmed for a long time. They have only 243 judges to handle 375,000 cases. Among the reasons for the scant number of deportations, the Wall Street Journal observes, is that some migrants simply don't show up for their court hearings.
El Heraldo (Honduras)
It will be a long time, even years, before the deportation of Honduran and Central American minors will be carried out. That at least is what is foreseen by U.S. authorities and the first lady of Honduras, Ana Garcia. The wife of President Juan Orlando Hernandez estimated that "the return of Honduran minors could take up to four years" because of the migration crisis that has overwhelmed not only the migrant shelters and detention centers but also the very immigration court system.
Prensa Libre (Guatemala)
President Oscar Perez Molina received a bipartisan U.S. congressional delegation on Saturday. ... According to people who attended the meeting, Perez said that there was a need to expand access to secondary education so that adolescents have the motivation to stay in the country. He also wants to expand programs that fight malnutrition and improve public safety and border security. He said that without doubt there is a need for new investment to generate employment and opportunity for the young people who enter the labor force, but don't find work.