by Jason Hopkins
Guatemala is reportedly open to helping President-elect Donald Trump carry out a key part of his mission to deport huge numbers of undocumented migrants from the United States.
The Government of Guatemala does not object to the admission of its own citizens and other Central Americans deported by the United States, According to several sources spoke to Reuters. Such a move would likely be a major boon for the incoming Trump administration, as Nicaragua and a number of other countries are reluctant to take back their citizens who have been ordered removed from the U.S.
“There has to be a regional response,” a Guatemalan official told Reuters. “We want to be part of the solution.”
Trump, who won in a landslide after campaigning on a hard-line immigration enforcement platform, promised to carry out the largest deportation campaign in the history of the country. However, a number of logistical obstacles may hamper this commitment, one of which is that some of the main sources of illegal immigration refuse to take back their citizens.
The number of recalcitrant countries – governments that refuse to accept or delay the repatriation of citizens ordered deported from the US – has varied over the years, depending on sanctions imposed by Washington and other factors. House Republicans identified in July 13 countries who are currently considered resistant or uncooperative.
Foreign governments that refuse to admit their citizens have long frustrated federal immigration authorities in many administrations. Instead of being held indefinitely in detention, many of these undocumented migrants may simply be released back to the United States, even if an immigration judge has ordered them to be repatriated.
This is not a novel problem for the Trump administration. Right after Trump’s first term superimposed visa sanctions on several countries for refusing to accept deported citizens. In the run-up to his second term, his inner circle was considering various ideas on what to do with the huge number of deportees from recalcitrant countries, including possibility sending them to islands in the Caribbean.
Under the Biden-Harris administration, federal immigration authorities and cities across the country have experienced an unprecedented illegal immigration crisis. Dealing with this ordeal became more hard when Venezuela, second highest source of illegal immigration to the US, stopped accepting deportation flights in February.
Other major sources of illegal immigration, such as China, Haiti and Cuba, refuse to cooperate with U.S. deportation operations. Nicaragua also stopped cooperating with Washington due to tensions over migrant smuggling and political repression have intensified.
However, the Guatemalan government – seeking friendlier relations with the Trump White House – has already met with Trump’s transition officials and Florida GOP Sen. Marco Rubio, who has been nominated to be the next Secretary of State, according to Reuters. The Central American country is preparing to welcome a vast number of compatriots next year.
“We are not ready for it, but we know it is coming” – Guatemalan government official he said to Reuters.
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Jason Hopkins is a reporter at the Daily Caller News Foundation.
