In response to growing criticism that the state of immigrant detention centers at America’s southern border is inhumane, President Trump this month tweeted a sweeping dictum meant to deter migration from Central America: “If Illegal Immigrants are unhappy with the conditions,” he wrote, “just tell them not to come. All problems solved!”

But the two of us have seen firsthand that merely telling potential asylum seekers of the terrors that may await them in the United States will not work.

This summer, we traveled across Honduras speaking about the asylum laws of the United States. We aimed not to influence decisions about fleeing but rather to inform potential asylum seekers of the legal obstacles they would face, and the rights to which they are entitled, if they chose to make the trip north.

At the beginning of each presentation, we asked attendees to raise their hand if they could name five protected grounds of asylum — race, religion, nationality, political opinion or particular social group — or if they had heard of the new “remain in Mexico” policy. Among all of our audiences — whether at an elite private university in San Pedro Sula, a rural church in the mountains or a firehouse on the coast — no one raised a hand.