A Honduran man last week became the first person to be sent to Guatemala under a new plan that the Trump administration itself has admitted will mean death for some asylum-seekers. Erwin José Ardón Montoya, a 23-year-old farm worker, left Honduras in late September due to drought and had hoped to reunite with family in the U.S. But he spent only a few days here before being sent to Guatemala under a so-called “safe third country” agreement. “So-called” because U.S. Immigration and Citizenship Services officials have admitted that violence is pervasive there.
But that’s where Erwin was sent anyway, with CNN reporting that “he appeared to be the only migrant on the flight.” After landing in Guatemala on Thursday, a “tearful” Erwin instead decided to return home to Honduras, arriving “Saturday at his parents' small adobe house in the village of Colón in the poverty- and drought-stricken municipality of Trujillo.” While families have left Central America due to violence, climate change has also played a growing role in driving migration, immigration journalist Adolfo Flores reported earlier this year.
Sixteen-year-old Juan de León Gutiérrez, one of the at least seven children to horrifically die after being taken into custody by the Trump administration, had fled drought in Guatemala—where the administration now wants to send asylum-seekers. If the administration’s plan makes no sense, it’s because it doesn’t make sense, and experts and advocates believe that the only reason why Guatemala entered into this agreement is because it was forced to.
“Neither the outgoing or incoming Guatemalan governments actually want ... to accept these asylum seekers,” tweeted reporter Jack Herrera, saying that Trump “has strong-armed” Guatemala “by withholding aid and threatening tariffs.” Mauro Verzeletti, a priest and advocate there, corroborated that, telling NPR that the agreement “was imposed on us, placed before us like a sword and a cross for Guatemala to sign, under the threat of economic sanctions."
Republicans used to spend a lot of time talking about the rule of law and complaining about overuse of executive powers, but the Trump administration has been decimating U.S. asylum law through that exact process, and with a clear goal in mind. “When you combine these restrictive policies, it appears that virtually no one crossing our border will qualify for asylum, except in exceptional circumstances,” longtime asylum officer Michael Knowles told BuzzFeed News. “It’s like a virtual wall.”