MEXICO CITY — Alejandro Miguel Andino Caballero had almost completed his university studies in marketing. His fiancee, Margie Támara Paz Grajeda, had earned a degree in economics. Both viewed education as a means to launch careers and surmount humble origins in Honduras, where endemic poverty, crime and corruption have long choked off avenues of social advancement.
But few doors opened for the ambitious young couple. The pandemic and two major hurricanes in recent years only dampened economic prospects in one of the hemisphere’s poorest nations.
So like many of their compatriots, Caballero, 23, and Paz Grajeda, 24, set out for the United States. Joining them was Caballero‘s 18-year-old brother, who had also lost hope for his future in Honduras.
