Recently, immigration officials arrested Carlos Navarro as he was eating takeaway outside a Virginia restaurant and informed him that he had been ordered to leave the country.
Mr. Navarro, 32, stated that he worked at poultry facilities and had never been afoul of the law.
“Nothing at all.”
He was back in Guatemala for the first time in eleven years last week, contacting his wife in the US from a deportee welcome facility in Guatemala City.
Mr. Navarro’s experience could serve as a sneak peek of the rapid deportations that President Trump is doing in American neighborhoods, where up to 14 million undocumented immigrants dwell.
It was reported that the government will begin the greatest deportations in American history as early as Tuesday. Mr. Trump pledged to “start the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came” during his inaugural address on Monday.
The circumstances surrounding Mr. Navarro offer insight into the potential consequences of mass deportations in Latin American nations at the other end of the deportation pipeline.
Although numerous nations have stated that they have not been able to communicate with the new administration over its deportation campaign, officials there are getting ready to welcome a sizable number of their nationals.
There is a sizable undocumented community in the United States from Guatemala, a tiny, destitute country devastated by a bloody civil war. The Pew Research Center estimates that in 2022, there were around 675,000 illegal Guatemalans in the nation.
As a result, it ranks in the top three countries of origin for undocumented immigrants in the US, after Mexico, India, and El Salvador. It also serves as a test site for how mass deportations may alter life abroad.
According to migration officials, the United States sent roughly seven deportation planes each week to Guatemala last year, which is equivalent to about 1,000 individuals. According to U.S. authorities, the government has informed them that it can handle up to 20 of these flights every week, which equates to around 2,500 passengers.
Meanwhile, the Guatemalan government has been working on a plan, which President Bernardo Arévalo has called “Return Home,” to reassure Guatemalans who are in danger of deportation that they can anticipate assistance from American consulates and, in the event of detention and removal, a “dignified reception.”
“We are aware of their concerns,” Foreign Minister Carlos Ramiro Martínez stated. “As the government, we can’t just say, ‘Look, we’re scared for you, too.’ They’re living in constant fear.” We must take action.
At a conference of regional foreign ministers in Mexico City last week, Guatemala presented their proposal, which goes beyond the immediate issues that many countries in the area have, such how to house or feed deportees on their first day back in the country.
atemala City, and Miriam Jordan from Los Angeles.
