The Foreign Minister of Guatemala, Pedro Brolo, will make a tour next week to the southern border of the United States, to review temporary shelters for migrants authorized in the southern state of Texas, the Ministry of Foreign Relations indicated this Sunday (05/16/2021).
The communication office of the Guatemalan Chancellery reported that Foreign Minister Brolo will visit “the temporary shelters that are enabled in the cities of Dallas and McAllen, in Texas,” with the aim of “verifying the health and mood” of the minors. there sheltered.
The Chancellor will also meet with “US authorities on this matter and with representatives of organizations, in addition to (making) a tour with the Border Patrol in the vicinity of the Rio Grande, to address issues of care and protection,” the Foreign Ministry stressed.
Brolo also plans to verify the care of unaccompanied migrant minors, as well as the procedures for family reunification, in addition to ensuring that the shelters “respect their rights.” The Foreign Ministry did not specify the dates of the announced visit.
Almost three million Guatemalans live in the United States, most irregularly according to official estimates. At least 300,000 try to cross its borders illegally each year in search of the American dream.
Deportations of Guatemalan immigrants from the United States decreased by 62 percent during 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic compared to 2019.
That year, according to the Migration Institute, a total of 21,057 Guatemalans were returned compared to the 54,599 deported during 2019.
Among the 21,057 Guatemalans in 2020, 2,817 minors are included, of which 1,762 were not accompanied by an adult.
The north of Central America, made up of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, is one of the poorest and most violent regions on the planet, according to studies by international organizations.
Each year, more than 500,000 people from those three countries try to migrate illegally to the United States, in search of better living conditions. The figure includes thousands of minors.
gs (efe, Free Press)
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Ciudad Juárez, epicenter of the migration crisis
Paso del Norte International Bridge
According to Mexican authorities, the US authorities return around a hundred migrants every day over this bridge, detained along the entire border.
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Ciudad Juárez, epicenter of the migration crisis
Bravo River
A couple from Haiti, with a pregnant woman and a young girl, cross the Rio Grande to surrender to the Border Patrol on the other shore.
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Ciudad Juárez, epicenter of the migration crisis
Worst call
Several women contact their relatives to inform them that they have just been returned to Mexico. According to the story, none of them were informed that they were going to be deported and only found out that they were returning to Mexico when they saw the flag of that country. Disoriented and frustrated by what they consider to be a hoax by the US authorities, most of them burst into tears.
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Ciudad Juárez, epicenter of the migration crisis
No options
The young Honduran Cristina Flores has lived with her two-year-old son Eduardo in a shelter for a week, when she was transferred after crossing into the United States at Reynosa, 1,200 kilometers from there. They have not had the option of starting their asylum process nor were they given the possibility of returning to their country. They wait without knowing what to do.
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Ciudad Juárez, epicenter of the migration crisis
Many minors
US President Joe Biden’s decision to accept unaccompanied minors has triggered their arrival by 70% since November, according to Chihuahua authorities. The number of Central American women traveling alone has also multiplied, in the hope that the new president would open the doors for them.
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Ciudad Juárez, epicenter of the migration crisis
Biden’s Children
In March, the US Border Patrol detained 561 unaccompanied minors in a single day, well above the maximum of 370 during the Donald Trump administration. A historical record fueled by Joe Biden’s speech that opens a tragic dimension to the migration crisis: what to do with hundreds of children, the most vulnerable to organized crime.
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Ciudad Juárez, epicenter of the migration crisis
The kidnapping business
This 21-year-old Guatemalan Lorena Pop’ico traversed all of Mexico with her one-and-a-half-year-old son and a group of women. Some suffered kidnapping and sexual abuse. Several local organizations and international NGOs warn of the increase in violence against migrants in Ciudad Juárez, due to the increase in the influx of both arrivals and returns.
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Ciudad Juárez, epicenter of the migration crisis
Strong vigilance
The Mexican government has stepped up the deployment of National Guard troops on both its northern and southern borders, at the request of Washington.
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Ciudad Juárez, epicenter of the migration crisis
Overflowing shelters
The Pan de Vida shelter reached its capacity limit this week. The city has 16 reception centers for 1,000 migrants, some installed in the last year, but massive returns can collapse this care system, as warned by state authorities.
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Ciudad Juárez, epicenter of the migration crisis
The House of Colors
The Casa de Colores, in an abandoned hotel, welcomes 43 trans migrant women. Its founder, Susan Coreas, opened this space in September of last year due to the economic abuse suffered in the only shelter for the LGBTI community in the city so far. Trans women face double discrimination and risk, which is why the house maintains strict security protocols.
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Ciudad Juárez, epicenter of the migration crisis
A bridge, a river and a hope
Joe Biden’s arrival at the White House enlightened hopes for thousands of Central Americans. In February, more than 100,400 foreigners tried to cross into the United States, a figure that will be exceeded in March, with an average of 4,000 daily arrests: the largest migratory flow in the last two years.
