Mexico deports Guatemalan kids from near US border

Guatemala City, Feb 7 (EFE).- Mexico deported 91 minors to Guatemala on Tuesday, including 28 who were found on Jan. 27 inside a container in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez as they were being transported to the US frontier.

Among the children and teenagers who were returned to Guatemala were 64 boys and 22 girls between the ages of 8 and 17 who were traveling alone, along with five others who were traveling with a relative, according to the Guatemalan Immigration Institute (IGM).

In the group were 28 minors who were found by Mexican immigration authorities in a container as it was being transported through Ciudad Juarez, some 15 kilometers (10 miles) from the US border, across which lies El Paso, Texas.

The IGM said that 29 other minors found in Ciudad Juarez remain in Mexico and could be deported on Thursday.

In addition, the minors who arrived in Guatemala on Tuesday will be housed in state shelters while their family situations are determined to see if they can be reunited with their relatives, Wuelmar Gomez, the head of the National Prosecutor’s Office (PGN) told EFE.

During January, Guatemala received 617 minors deported from other nations, according to official figures.

The United States sent 269 of the minors back to Guatemala and Mexico returned 348 during the first month of 2023.

Guatemala ended 2022 with 7,436 minors deported from the US and another 8,052 deported from Mexico.

In Guatemala, some 300,000 people each year seek to migrate to the US in search of better living conditions, experts estimate.

EFE –/bp