Guatemala receives the first migrants deported from the US in 2023, some plan to return

With the new year, the United States resumed the deportations of migrants and in just five days the arrival of three flights with 255 Guatemalans who were returned from the US cities of Harligen, McAllen and Alexandria was reported.

After a long and dangerous journey to the US-Mexico border, the migrants had been stopped by border patrol as they tried to enter US territory.

The director of the Guatemalan Migration Institute, Stuard Rodríguez, assured that assistance is being provided to them upon their return to the country.

“We continue to receive them here in the Guatemalan air force. Here we have calls, internet, vehicles to be able to move them, even with the Ministry of Labor looking at possibilities of offering jobs.”

But despite the difficulties and deportation, some like José Calderón, 27, say they will try again.

“Yes, I hope to return. They were not fulfilled, but the next one maybe yes. The migra treats you like a dog however they want. Necessity motivates us to go there because only there we can do something,” declared the migrant.

For the analyst Jahir Dabroy, since the Barack Obama government, which began in 2009, deportations have been registering a significant annual increase, which will also be evident in 2023.

“What is expected is that it is very likely that the number of deportations will continue to increase, that is, that the numbers for 2022 will increase by at least 5% or 10%, because they are already quite high numbers. Above all, we are going to continue to see a work of arrests and deportations from Mexican territory that is increasingly significant.

In addition, Dabroy considers that Title 42 could continue in force for sanitary reasons.

“With the new strains and the problems that are occurring in China lately with the increase in cases of COVID-19 infection, it is very likely seeing that Title 42 remains in force, which increasingly discourages asylum applications in US territory.”

A new flight with deported Guatemalans, including men, women and minors, is expected this Friday. It should be remembered that in 2022 there were more than 94,000 migrants returned to Guatemala.

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