Guatemala reveals shock number of Mexican migrants it has received from US
Guatemala City, Guatemala - Guatemala on Wednesday confirmed the US has deported approximately 2300 Mexican citizens to the small Central American country despite protests from Mexico City.
Despite strong objections from the Mexican government, which says it is happy to accept the return of its citizens, Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo said his country has accepted 2284 Mexicans deported from the US just this year.
"They are arriving on planes carrying Guatemalan returnees," Arevalo said during a news conference on Thursday.
"In coordination with the Mexican government, what we have done is bring them through in transit so that we can return them to Mexican territory within 24 hours of their arrival in the country."
The news comes only days after a CBS News report revealed that the Trump administration has been flying Mexican citizens around their country's territory and depositing them in Central American nations as a form of deterrence.
In a statement to CBS News, Mexico's foreign ministry said that it "rejects the deportation of Mexican nationals to third countries."
"The Mexican government has expressed its opposition to this practice to US authorities and has reiterated that every Mexican citizen has the right to enter the country," the foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
Arevalo confirmed that while the nearly 2300 Mexican deportees had arrived in Guatemala, they were quickly repatriated and the costs were covered by either Mexico City or Washington.
The removals are part of a policy by President Donald Trump's administration to deport undocumented migrants to third parties. Many have warned that the system is inhumane and meant as a punishment.
In July, Amnesty International demanded the US must "immediately end this unlawful policy and dismantle the mass detention and deportation machine."
Cover photo: AFP/Spencer Platt/Getty Images