A C-17 Globemaster III assigned to the 60th Air Mobility Wing, carrying 80 illegal immigrants, prepares for takeoff at Fort Bliss, Texas, Photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Nicholas J. De La Pena/Department of Defense | License Photo
Sept. 2 (UPI) — Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo said his country is prepared to receive up to 150 unaccompanied migrant children a week, as long as the returns are voluntary or by court order.
“The government’s priority is to protect the best interests of the child and to prevent teenagers about to turn 18 from ending up in adult detention centers in the United States,” Arévalo said Monday during a news conference.
He said the initiative was proposed by the Guatemalan government to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristin Noem during her visit to Guatemala in July.
“Government institutions are ready,” the president said, while stressing that the pace and number of returns will depend on decisions made in the United States. In the meantime, Guatemala is working to identify the children’s families to ensure a safe return and quick reintegration.
For internal logistics, the Attorney General’s Office, the Guatemalan Migration Institute and the Social Welfare Secretariat follow a national protocol that reinforces procedures for returning unaccompanied Guatemalan minors.
The plan includes temporary shelters, with the goal of keeping children institutionalized for as little time as possible before family reunification.
The announcement came as U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan issued a 14-day order halting deportation flights of hundreds of Guatemalan minors. The ruling forced children who had already boarded planes to disembark, and it temporarily suspended the removal plan.
The legal process began Sunday morning, according to the BBC, when immigrant rights groups requested an emergency order. They argued that about 600 children could be placed on planes in Texas and sent to Guatemala.
U.S. Justice Department attorneys argued the flights were not deportations but repatriations, intended to reunite the minors with their families.
On his official X account, U.S. Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Adviser Stephen Miller commented on the situation, saying the Guatemalan government had formally requested the children’s return.
“The government of Guatemala has formally requested their return. And there are tens of thousands more smuggled minors orphaned in America by the Biden administration that Democrats are refusing to allow back home with their families,” Miller wrote.