On Tuesday, Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) applauded efforts by Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei to increase prison sentences for “coyote” human smugglers.
Read MoreTag: Guatemala
Guatemala Says it Will Detain Around 2,000 Migrants Bound for the U.S.
Guatemala says it will detain and return a migrant caravan of around 2,000 that entered the country from Honduras on Thursday, the Associated Press reported Friday.
Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei vowed the caravan would be sent back to Honduras over concerns about coronavirus, the AP reported. The caravan overpowered Guatemalan border guards who reportedly made little attempt to control the situation, according to the AP.
Read MoreICE Is Using Its Deportation Flights to Bring Home Americans Stuck Abroad
ICE Air Operations, the air transportation arm of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), has so far rescued 466 U.S. citizens stranded in the Northern Triangle region of Central America amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Following orders of final removal, ICE deported Salvadoran and Honduran nationals back to their home countries on Friday. On the return leg of these flights, the agency took aboard U.S. citizens who were stranded due to COVID-19 lockdowns, according to an ICE press release.
Read MoreUS, Guatemala Sign Deal to Restrict Central American Asylum-Seekers
President Donald Trump says Guatemala has signed a deal with the U.S. that would restrict Central Americans from seeking asylum in the United States.
Read MoreTrump Says He’s Considering Options After Guatemala Halts ‘Safe Third Country’ Designation
by Reuters WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump said he is now considering a “ban,” tariffs and remittance fees after Guatemala decided to not move forward with a safe third country agreement that would have required the Central American country to take in more asylum seekers. “Guatemala … has…
Read MoreTrump to Discuss Immigration with Guatemalan President at White House on Monday
by Reuters WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump will meet with Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales at the White House on Monday for talks on immigration and security, the White House said on Friday. Government sources from both countries have said Morales may sign an agreement with Trump on Monday…
Read MoreUS-Guatemala Talks on Central American Asylum Seekers Hit Impasse
Major differences have surfaced between the United States and Guatemala over a proposed agreement to block Central Americans from seeking asylum in the U.S., dashing the Trump administration’s hopes for a quick resolution of talks, according to an internal U.S. State Department report on the first full day of…
Read MoreTrump Confident New Migrant Pact with Mexico Will Succeed
President Donald Trump claimed Sunday that Mexico “for many years” has not been cooperative to curb the surge of migrants traveling through it to reach the United States, but believes a new agreement will alleviate the problem. The president warned, however, that “if for some unknown reason” Mexico does…
Read MoreNearly 40 Percent of Guatemalans Want to Leave the Country, Poll Finds
by Jason Hopkins A poll by one of Guatemala’s largest newspapers found a startling number of its citizens expressed a desire to leave the country, with the U.S. being the destination of choice for most of them. A survey by Prensa Libre published on Thursday found that 39 percent…
Read MoreTrump Threatens to ‘Entirely’ Close US-Mexico Border Unless Wall Funding is Secured
President Donald Trump on Friday once again threatened to close the entire U.S.-Mexico border and cut aid to Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador if Congress fails to give him money to fund the border wall. In a series of tweets, Trump also asked to change the “ridiculous immigration laws that…
Read MoreCommentary: The Migrant ‘Caravan’ Marching Northbound To Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas, and What The U.S. Constitution Has To Say About It
The United States Constitution does contain a few references relative to immigration and naturalization as well as to persons seeking to enter the United States in contravention of its laws — whether violently or non-violently and whether singly or in the form of a human tsunami. In its Article I,…
Read MoreTrump: US Will Now Begin Cutting Aid to Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador
President Donald Trump says the U.S. “will now begin cutting off or substantially reducing” the amount of foreign aid given to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, saying they were “not able to do the job” of stopping migrants from leaving their countries and “coming illegally” to the U.S. His Twitter…
Read MoreGuatemala Will Follow U.S. Lead and Move Embassy to Jerusalem
Guatemala is to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, President Jimmy Morales said Sunday, becoming the first leader to back US President Donald Trump’s controversial change of stance on the holy city. After speaking with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Morales wrote to Guatemalans on his Facebook page that…
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