Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA

 

Immigration: 2010

October 14, 2010: Aboard Deportation Flight to Guatemala, vows to return. Aboard a deportation flight to Guatemala, 117 detainees sat in silence. As of September 18 of this year, 158,964 people have been deported from the United States. Eighteen percent of those people were sent to Guatemala City, making Guatemalans the second largest group of deportees (Mexicans are the largest). [View graphic]

Many immigrants aboard this deportation flight back to Guatemala were like Juan Sebastian Chavez, who left Guatemala after Hurricane Stan. The hurricane washed away the top soil on his land, making it impossible for him to farm and therefore impossible for him to provide for his family. Chavez is excited to see his family, but unsure as to how he will pay back the $1,250 he borrowed - with a 15% interest rate – to make the journey.

"They're economic refugees," said Eduardo L. Preciado, ICE assistant field office director of detention and removal operations in Arizona. "I think the overwhelming majority of folks apprehended along the border come here for work. Their countries can't provide jobs for their people and they can come to the U.S. It's economy-driven illegal immigration." [Read full article from Orange County Register]

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September 24, 2010: Guatemalan immigrants and solidarity activists rally for TPS. Guatemalan activists congregated in front of the White House to request that President Obama and DHS approve Guatemala's petition for Temporary Protective Status. The Guatemala Human Rights Commission and a delegation of Guatemalans with the Guatemala Peace and Development Network also met with representatives from the State Department and USCIS.

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September 15, 2010: Inmigrante TV hace segmento sobre TPS para los Guatemaltecos

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September 13, 2010: Migrant rights groups, with Rigoberta Menchu, demand that Colom set an ultimatum for the Tamaulipas investigations. MIGUA (Movement of Guatemalan Immigrants in the United States), teamed with other organizations, has pressured Colom to ask for migrant rights in Mexico.  They have also requested that he set a deadline for the investigations that, if not met, will then be taken to the InterAmerican Court.  Colom will be meeting today with Calderón. [Siglo XXI]

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September 13, 2010: LA protests over police killing highlight frustration of immigrant area hard hit by recession. The Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, the area where the Guatemala day laborer was shot and killed last week, is primarily populated by immigrants from Central America, with a large population of Guatemalans. Unemployment, crime and rent are all high and many of the immigrants speak little Spanish. There is a high level of distrust for the local authorities. Still, many immigrants continue coming in the hopes that they can earn more than they could in Guatemala. [LA Times | Washington Post | NY Times]

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September 1, 2010: At least five Guatemalans killed in Tamaulipas massacre

On August 25th, seventy-two bullet ridden bodies were found on a ranch in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. It was later determined that these corpses belonged to migrants from Central and South America who were en route to the United States. The victims included 58 men and 14 women from Honduras, El Salvador, Brazil, and Guatemala. So far, 5 are reported to have been Guatemalan.

The cause for these brutal slayings goes back to the rampant drug war that has only worsened in Mexico. The alleged perpetrators of this crime are members of the Zetas, a powerful narco-trafficking organization known for kidnapping and extortions. As Mexico’s war on drugs continues, its accompanying violence is flowing south into Guatemala. Towns near the border are especially affected. But perhaps in the most direct line of danger are those who must pass through Mexico to reach the U.S. Migration has been on the rise due to the overwhelming poverty that pervades rural Guatemala. In the past, Guatemalans have looked to farming; however with the recent implementation of CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement), small scale agriculture is no longer a sufficient form of sustenance. Historically they have also relocated to Guatemala City; conditions in the capital, however, have deteriorated due to gang violence, organized crime, and overcrowding. Thus, often their only hope is to go north.

In addition to the treacherous – and often deadly – deserts, migrants must now face the threat of drug violence as they make their journey. The Mexican Human Rights Commission estimates that there are about 20,000 migrant kidnappings each year, many of which result in murder. Although it cannot be determined exactly how many Guatemalan pass through Mexico and enter the U.S, about 1.6 million Guatemalans were living in the country in 2009; roughly 60 percent were undocumented. [Read more: NY Times | Examiner | Prensa Libre]

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August 31, 2010: Temporary-Protected Status: Does Guatemala Deserve It? In Latin America today, four countries currently benefit from TPS. Each time it was set to terminate, it has been renewed at the last minute. El Salvador is scheduled to be under TPS until March 2012, and Honduras and Nicaragua will enjoy TPS until January 2012. Nicaragua, for example, with a booming tourism industry and a growth rate of 70% over the past seven years, still benefits from TPS. In Guatemala, Tropical Storm Agatha and volcanic eruptions left over 170 dead and over 100,000 homeless. Guatemalans residing in the United States should not be forced to return to a country that has become overrun with corruption and impunity, and that has few resources to repair the damage. Since 2010 alone, more than 10,000 Guatemalan immigrants have been deported. President Obama should answer Guatemala’s plea and Senator Kerry’s request and place the country under TPS. [Excerpted from COHA.]

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July 16, 2010: Senator John Kerry asked Obama to grant TPS to Guatemalans living n the United States. In his request for Temporary Protected States (TPS), John Kerry reminded Obama that Guatemala was the recently victim of two natural disaster. He also pointed out the high levels of crime and violence due to drug traffickers and gangs. According to Kerry, Guatemala is "a ravaged homeland" that would be dangerous for those who are sent back.

Read English Article in Washington Post//Lea Articulo Español en Prensa Libre

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June 2, 2010: GHRC and partner organizations send letter to President Obama condemning increased militarization at the US-Mexico border.

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June 8, 2010: U.S. will respond quickly to Guatemala's request for TPS. Ambassador McFarland announced that the U.S. response the Guatemala’s plea for TPS would be “thoughtful and quick.” The request has been formally presented in Washington, and it is expected that Barack Obama will decide within 30-45 days. According to U.S. immigration law, a country can apply for TPS if it has suffered from large-scale natural disasters. TPS would allow thousands of Guatemalans to remain in the U.S. and work with legal permission and halts deportations. Guatemalan Assistant Secretary of Foreign Relations stated that 800 thousand Guatemalans would benefit from TPS. [Prensa Libre]

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May 25, 2010: Latin American Congressional Leaders Lobby in Washington for Immigration Reform. The President of Congress, Roberto Alejos, confirmed his trip to Washington along with other Presidents of legislative braches in Central America and the Caribbean, with the objective to lobby in favor of a comprehensive immigration reform in the United States and to express rejection to the Arizona anti-immigrant law. [Prensa Libre]

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May 25, 2010: Obama to Send Up to 1,200 Troops to Border. President Obama will send up to 1,200 National Guard troops to the Southwest border and seek increased spending on law enforcement there to combat drug smuggling after demands from Republican and Democratic lawmakers that border security be tightened. The troops will be there for one year and will join a few hundred members of the Guard already assigned there to help the police hunt for drug smugglers. The additional troops will provide support to law enforcement officers by helping observe and monitor traffic between official border crossings. They will also help analyze trafficking patterns in the hope of intercepting illegal drug shipments. [NYT]

The decision comes despite severe criticism of the Arizona Law from all across the U.S. and Latin America. Central American and Caribbean Presidents met in Guatemala and condemned the law. They plan to travel to Washington to personally request that Congress reject the law and similar bills proposed in other states such as Rhode Island. The Guatemalan Episcopal Conference on Migration released a press release urging law makers to reject these discriminatory and harmful laws.

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April 23, 2010: Arizona Passes Harsh Anti-Immigrant Legislation. On Friday April 23, Republican Gov. of Arizona Jan Brewer signed state Senate Bill 1070, the "Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act.” The bill is perhaps the most blatantly anti-immigrant in the country and has caused outrage both in the U.S. and internationally. It is not only unconstitutional, (immigration policy must be a uniform policy nation-wide), but also takes a step in turning Arizona into an anti-immigrant police state that legalizes racial profiling. Read full article.

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April 6, 2010(Univisión - EFE): The US deported 5,665 undocumented Guatemalans in the first trimester of 2010. Immigration authorities of the United States deported 5,665 undocumented Guatemalans in the first trimester of 2010, informed an official source today,11.8 percent less in relation to the same period of 2009.
According to the information of the Main directorate of Migración (DGM), published on its web page, during the month of March, 2,054 illegal immigrants were repatriated. Between January and March of last year a total of 6,427 undocumented Guatemalan people were deported from the northern country.
During 2009 US immigration authorities deported 27,222 Guatemalans, less than the figure of 28,051 that was registered in 2008, according to the official statistics. There are approximately 1.2 million Guatemalans in the U.S., an estimated 60 percent undocumented.  

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