By Louise Radnofsky
WASHINGTON—President Trump praised Mexico’s efforts to intercept Central American asylum seekers and said that Guatemala was getting ready to sign an agreement that would make it a final refuge for people fleeing poverty and violence in the region.
In a pair of tweets Monday night, Mr. Trump said that Guatemala was preparing to sign a “Safe-Third Agreement,” in an apparent reference to a legal designation that would require Central American migrants that cross into Guatemala to claim asylum there, blocking those migrants from lodging claims elsewhere.
Officials from Guatemala’s Foreign Ministry didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment, and the White House declined to immediately provide further details.
Mr. Trump also said Monday night that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would increase its efforts to remove people in the U.S. without authorization.
“Next week ICE will begin the process of removing the millions of illegal aliens who have illicitly found their way into the United States. They will be removed as fast as they come in,” wrote Mr. Trump.
An administration official said there were more than one million immigrants who were subject to final deportation orders but the orders hadn’t yet been enforced. The administration official said late Monday that enforcing the orders would be a top priority for ICE.
Many of the families who have been traveling through Mexico to the U.S. border have been coming from Guatemala as well as Honduras and El Salvador. Many say they are fleeing a combination of endemic poverty, violence and corruption in the region.
The issue of “safe third country” status remains a major point of contention between the U.S. and Mexico, even as the two countries have reached a deal to attempt to stem a flow of Central American adults and children that U.S. authorities say have brought the southwest border to a breaking point by arriving each day in the thousands.
Mexico had long resisted U.S. requests that it accept the safe third country status, insisting that it lacked the resources to uphold such a commitment—but as part of its agreement with the U.S., Mexico pledged last week that it would take steps to declare itself a safe third country if its other efforts failed to reduce migrant numbers.
Mexico has said that its ability to uphold its asylum commitments would depend on whether Guatemala and other Central American countries would also agree to grant asylum to migrants.
Mr. Trump’s tweets on Monday night suggested that the regional framework that Mexico has been pressing for could be advancing.
“Mexico, using their strong immigration laws, is doing a very good job of stopping people long before they get to our Southern Border,” wrote Mr. Trump. “Guatemala is getting ready to sign a Safe-Third Agreement.”
But migrant rights groups have raised significant concerns over Guatemala’s ability to provide shelter and assistance to asylum seekers crossing into the country from Honduras and El Salvador. Charities and civic groups currently provide most of the funding and resources for such assistance right now.
U.S. officials say the American immigration system is ill-equipped to receive Central American families seeking asylum, from the moment they turn themselves in to the court adjudication of their claims. which can take years amid heavy backlogs.
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