Trump wins on immigration again as Guatemala vows to restrict asylum applications

President Trump said on Friday that  an agreement with Guatemala to restrict asylum application to the United States from nations south of the U.S. border as been reached.

photo/ donkeyhotey

“The so-called ‘safe third country’ agreement would require migrants, including Salvadorans and Hondurans, who cross into Guatemala on their way to the U.S. to apply for protections in Guatemala instead of at the U.S. border,” The Associated Press reported. “It could potentially ease the crush of migrants overwhelming the U.S. immigration system and hand Trump a concession he could herald as a win.”

This month, Guatemala’s high court blocked its government from signing the deal with the United States. Trump said he didn’t believe that the court acted independently of the Guatemalan government and that the United States would take action.

“If Guatemala doesn’t take significant action to help protect our borders, then we will, of course, look at all manner of solutions to the serious crisis we face,” a White House official told NPR a few days ago as a pressure mounted for the Central American nation to do more, “whether it’s a travel ban, significant actions on remittances and/or tariffs.”

“We’ll either do tariffs or we’ll do something,” Trump said earlier this week. “We’re looking at something very severe with respect to Guatemala.”

“It’s not clear how the agreement will take effect,” the AP added. “Guatemala’s Constitutional Court granted three injunctions preventing its government from entering into a deal.”

Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies for the Center for Immigration Studies, who speaks regularly with the administration, said the situation is “long past out of control.”

“The president is frustrated that Congress and some lower court judges are blocking his efforts to address the border crisis, and his options are limited, so he is willing to push the envelope to get results,” she said.