Danali, Honduras: A growing number of migrants, discouraged by U.S. President Donald Trump’s border enforcement policies, are abandoning their efforts to reach the United States and instead seeking assistance from the United Nations to return to their countries of origin. As migrant crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border continue to decline, demand for repatriation services is surging.
In Danlí, a town in eastern Honduras near the Nicaraguan border, dozens of migrants are currently waiting for support from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a United Nations agency offering voluntary return flights to Venezuela and other countries. Many of these individuals had initially set out with the intention of reaching the United States but have since changed course.
Betzabeth Bencomo, a Venezuelan migrant, said she believed she would have to cross the dangerous Darién Gap—an infamous stretch of jungle between Colombia and Panama—once more in order to return home. Upon arriving in Honduras, however, she discovered that the IOM was providing flights for migrants seeking to return voluntarily.
“We’ve been waiting for two and a half months,” she said. “God willing, soon we will be home.”
Venessa Contreras, also from Venezuela, echoed a similar sense of cautious relief. Although the wait for a return flight is long, she said it feels far safer than attempting the increasingly perilous reverse journey through Central America. She described how some migrants are now resorting to risky sea travel as tighter controls in Panama have cut off overland jungle routes, leading to frequent boat accidents during return attempts.
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The IOM’s assisted voluntary return program has seen a marked uptick in interest following the enforcement of stricter U.S. border measures. In just the first two months of the year, the agency received 2,862 requests for return assistance—more than triple the number recorded during the same period in the previous year.
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As more migrants recognize the increasing obstacles and dangers on both northbound and southbound journeys, voluntary return through international cooperation is becoming a lifeline for those left in limbo.
