Guatemala Assists Migrants Deported From the US

On Wednesday, Guatemala’s National Council for Assistance to Migrants (CONAMIGUA) Secretary Raul Berrios traveled to the El Ceibo border point with Mexico to coordinate care for Central American migrants who are entering his country due to the U.S. accelerated expulsion policy.

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"We spoke with these people to know about their needs and provide them voluntary return service to El Salvador and Honduras,” Berrios stated. About 400 migrants on average per day have been deported to Guatemala since July 30, when U.S. President Joe Biden officially resumed the Trump administration's policy of immediate deportations.

The asylum seekers are sent from the U.S. border to El Ceibo without economic resources to return to their home countries. The Migrant House (MH) NGO Director Father Mauro Verzeletti condemned this policy, arguing that the Guatemalan-Mexican border zone lacks the infrastructure to receive migrants.

"The promises that Biden had made made regarding migration does not correspond to what he is implementing," Verzeletti pointed out.

"Nations cannot manage migration alone. To solve mass migration to the U.S., Biden must adopt a policy of multilateral cooperation," he added. 

On Wednesday, Guatemala’s Foreign Affairs Ministry Pedro Brolo requested that the return of migrants be carried out through either the reception centers established in Tecun Uman and San Marcos cities or through the Air Force center in Guatemala City so as to receive deported migrants in a safe and dignified manner.

On March 21, 2020, Former U.S. President Donald Trump approved a deportation policy known as Title 42, which allows migration authorities to immediately deport undocumented migrants to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Thanks to this policy, from October 2020 to June 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) deported 751,844 migrants who attempted to cross this country’s southern border.