Tag

#Guatemala

Incidents involving Guatemala, including deportation of Guatemalan nationals (particularly unaccompanied minors), conditions faced by deportees, and impacts on Guatemalan asylum seekers.

2 incidents

Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

Midnight Deportation of 76 Guatemalan Children: Labor Day Weekend Mass Removal Attempt

The administration attempted a mass deportation of unaccompanied minor children in the middle of the night during a holiday weekend, circumventing legal protections that require children to appear before an immigration judge. A federal judge halted the operation after being awakened at 2:35 AM, but one plane had already taken off before turning around.

Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

US–Guatemala Asylum Cooperative Agreement: Asylum Seekers Transferred to Guatemala Without a Hearing (2019–2020)

The US sent 939 Central American asylum seekers to Guatemala without letting them apply for asylum in the US. Guatemala's asylum system could not process their claims, and the HRW/Refugees International investigation found that almost none applied there and that some went home to the danger they fled. Transfers stopped in March 2020 because of Covid-19.