The Honduras government said it had begun to surrender the United States as an uncommon immigrant who was accused of killing a young woman in Iowa in 2016, a case that President Trump made a central point in his first presidential campaign.
This step comes to fulfill an American request to deliver Eswin Mejia at a time when Honduras and other Latin American countries have sought to show their willingness to cooperate with the Trump administration.
It was claimed that Mr. Megia was driving his car when he collided with a Sarah Root in light in Omaha in January 2016.
On Thursday, he was arrested in a town about 125 miles northwest of the capital of Honduran, in Tigosiga, where he was transferred and appeared in front of a judge of a Supreme Court on Friday, according to Honduran officials.
Enrique Reina, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Honduras, said in an interview that the Supreme Court ordered the arrest of Mr. Megia and that the judge would determine whether he would be granted a delivery request by the United States.
“This must go through an operation,” said Mr. Reina, adding that the Honduran government has received more than 50 requests for delivery from the United States since President Xiuara Castro took office in 2022.
The White House did not respond to suspension requests. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs referred a request to comment on the Ministry of Justice, which was not mentioned.
The Trump administration pressed the countries in the region to send individuals wanted by the US authorities to the United States, seeking early victories on illegal immigration issues and crime that are essential in the political brand of Mr. Trump.
On the same day of the arrest of Mr. Megia, Mexico sender 29 Best Cartel Customers Wanted by the American authorities. Group Rafael Caro Quintro, a founding member of Cartel Sinalua, has been convicted of Mexico for murder in Entic Camarina in 1985, and he is an agent in the Drug Control Administration. This week, the Trump administration also met with a high -level Mexican delegation to try to produce a new security agreement.
The concessions were part of a wider effort from Latin American countries to offer their efforts to target criminal groups and illegal immigration as Mr. Trump threatens to impose new amendments.
“For many governments in the region, where it gives a deal where Trump gives what he wants and in return, it is left alone and no one will get their work, it is completely comfortable with this deal.” “On the other hand, they are very concerned about the definitions.”
Sarah Root, which was 21 years old when she was killed, became a hub for Mr. Trump during his first campaign in 2016. In this race, he repeatedly emphasized his plans to abandon illegal immigration and sought to shed light on the cases in which immigrants were accused of unconfirmed of crimes.
Unlike Mexico, Honduras does not face an imminent tariff. But the country’s government was keen to show that it was open to work with the Trump administration.
Honduras was left outside the itinerary of Foreign Minister Marco Rubio over Central America last month, on his first official trip, and sent what experts said was a clear message to President Castro.
Last year, Mrs. Castro Go to the end It was a long -term delivery treaty with the United States, and on New Year’s Day, threatened to do so The expulsion of the US military From an important air base if Mr. Trump carries out a mass deportation.
Recently, the Honduran government reflected the path.
Last week, the country agreed to allow Soto Cano Air Base as a transfer point for deportation deportations from Guantanamo. The American authorities were transferred from the naval base to Honduras, where they were transferred to a trip sent by the Venezuelan government.
Mr. Rina, Minister of Foreign Affairs, said that he was a sign of Honduras’s relations with the United States.
Honduras also agreed last month to continue the treaty of criminals with the United States, which Ms. Castro had previously moved to the end. Tony Garcia, Deputy Foreign Minister, said in an interview at the time that Honduras hopes to lead this to “warmer and more flexible relationships” with the United States, “because this was a tremendous subject.”
On Thursday, the Honduran government announced the seizure of Mr. Mejia as social media and said that “historical detention has become possible thanks to the cooperation between the government of President @Xiomaracastroz and the administration of President Realdondtrum.”
Honduras was aware that Mr. Megia was in the country for some time, according to a person familiar with the situation, who was not permitted to publicly comment and spoke on the condition that his identity was not disclosed. The person said that the Castro government moved to his arrest quickly after a request for delivery came from the United States.
The person said that the Honduran government could still face local legal challenges in returning Mr. Megia to the United States. Honduran law makes it difficult to hand over individuals accused of death.
Mr. Megia will remain in detention in Honduras even The next hearing in MarchThe authorities said on Friday.
His arrest comes at a time when Mr. Trump continued to link the crime to illegal immigration, which is the focus of his strategy to build support for his anti -immigration agenda. It has achieved some success. The poll showed during the recent campaign that Americans support Republicans more than Democrats by immigration.
One of his first victories in his second term was legislation bearing the name of a 22 -year -old nursing student in Georgia, who was killed last year at the hands of a migrant from Venezuela across the United States. The draft law requires the detention of migrants who enter the country without authorization and are arrested or accused of certain crimes.
While the crimes committed by immigrants have received national attention, Mr. Trump also has a long history of exaggerating their crime. Over the past 150 years, immigrants have been generally Less To commit crimes from people born in the United States, He concluded a study of 2023.
