Guatemala receives first flight of 2023 carrying deportees from US

Guatemala City, Jan 4 (EFE).- Guatemala on Wednesday received the first flight of this year carrying almost 100 migrants deported from the United States, with the total number of deportees this year potentially exceeding 50,000.

The 87 deportees arrived on an air force jet in Guatemala City from Texas, according to the Guatemalan Migration Institute (IGM).

Among the deportees were 57 men, 29 women and a minor, and all of them were expelled from the US under Title 42, a public health measure that allows Washington to immediately deport anyone trying to enter the country illegally across the US-Mexico border, the IGM said.

In addition, immigration authorities said that on Wednesday two more flights from Texas will arrive carrying similar numbers of Guatemalan deportees.

During 2022, the US expelled 40,713 Guatemalan migrants, a 128 percent increase over the number of Guatemalan deportees in 2021, when 17,806 people were refused entry.

Meanwhile, Mexico deported 53,503 Guatemalans by air and land in 2022.

Each year, about 300,000 Guatemalans try to emigrate to the US seeking better living conditions and fleeing the violence and poverty besetting their homeland, according to immigration experts.

EFE –/bp