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US Sends First Salvadoran Back to Guatemala Under Asylum Deal

Reuters

   GUATEMALA CITY - Guatemala received the first Salvadoran citizen from
   the United States under a new migration agreement that designates the
   Central American nation a so-called safe third country for
   asylum-seekers, Guatemalan authorities said Tuesday.

   The program kicked off in late November, when a Honduran man flew from
   El Paso, Texas, to Guatemala City on a nearly empty Boeing 737. This
   marks the second flight.

   The plane, which arrived Tuesday morning from Mesa, Arizona, also had
   84 Guatemalans and two Hondurans aboard, said Alejandra Mena, a
   spokeswoman for Guatemala's migration institute.

   She did not specify whether the migrants from Honduras and El Salvador
   would seek asylum in Guatemala or return to their countries.

   The program marks a policy achievement for U.S. President Donald Trump,
   who has demanded help from Mexico and Central America in curbing the
   flow of migrants seeking to request asylum in the United States.

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