CENTRAL AMERICA/IMMIGRATION/MEXICO/SANCTIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Guatemala’s refugee agency meets only sporadically and operates on a bare-bones basis, adding to doubts about how the crime-wracked, impoverished Central American country will cope with a surge in asylum-seekers under a deal signed with Washington. Guatemala’s shortcomings raise doubts about U.S. migration deal signed with Washington.Under Friday’s [8-2-19] accord, Guatemala becomes a so-called ‘safe third country,’ turning it into a buffer zone for migrants trying to reach the United States, and potentially lifting applications for asylum in Guatemala from a few hundred a year to tens of thousands. U.S. President Donald Trump has pushed Mexico and Guatemala to sign such agreements to make asylum-seekers passing through their territory solicit safe haven in those countries, and not in the United States.”
–Sophia Menchu, “Guatemala’s shortcomings raise doubts about U.S. migration deal,” Reuters, July 31, 2019 12:06 pm