US Sends First Salvadoran Back to Guatemala Under Asylum Deal

US Sends First Salvadoran Back to Guatemala Under Asylum Deal

Guatemala received the first Salvadoran citizen from the United States under a new migration agreement that designates the Central American nation a so-called safe third country for asylum-seekers, Guatemalan authorities said Tuesday, VOA news reports.

The program kicked off in late November, when a Honduran man flew from El Paso, Texas, to Guatemala City on a nearly empty Boeing 737. This marks the second flight.

The plane, which arrived Tuesday morning from Mesa, Arizona, also had 84 Guatemalans and two Hondurans aboard, said Alejandra Mena, a spokeswoman for Guatemala’s migration institute.

She did not specify whether the migrants from Honduras and El Salvador would seek asylum in Guatemala or return to their countries.

The program marks a policy achievement for U.S. President Donald Trump, who has demanded help from Mexico and Central America in curbing the flow of migrants seeking to request asylum in the United States.