TURNED AWAY

U.S. Signs Deal With Guatemala Allowing Deportation of Asylum-Seekers

Under the deal, migrants crossing through Guatemala will be deported from the U.S. border if they didn’t apply for asylum in Guatemala first.

The United States and Guatemala signed a deal on Friday that would allow the U.S. to deport asylum-seeking migrants if they crossed through Guatemala without seeking asylum there on their way to the southern U.S. border, ABC News reports. The deal would require migrants to apply for asylum in Guatemala first before applying to the U.S., or be rejected and deported to Guatemala once they reach the southern border. “They’re doing what we’ve asked them to do. I think it’s going to be a great thing for Guatemala,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office alongside Guatemalan Interior Minister Enrique Degenhart. “They don’t want the problems either." Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan also told reporters the deal won’t take effect until both governments “ratify and recognize” it, but said it could be implemented in “several weeks.” This comes after one court didn’t block and another halted the Trump administration’s effort to make all migrants apply for asylum in the first safe country they cross into.