President Trump’s administration is considering adding the country of Guatemala to its highly-effective travel ban list that has essentially halted all legal immigration from eight foreign countries with serious terrorist and crime problems.
After Guatemalan officials backed out this week on signing a Safe Third Country Agreement with the U.S. — which would prevent border crossers and migrants from arriving in the U.S. from Guatemala to claim asylum — the Trump administration is weighing adding the country to its constitutional travel ban list.
Also under consideration is imposing a remittance tax on foreign nationals sending money back to Guatemala or tariffs on the country’s imports to the U.S.
NPR reported:
In a move reminiscent of the pressure campaign President Trump launched against Mexico over immigration, the travel ban is the most explosive option of three that the administration says it’s considering against the Central American nation, according to White House and other U.S. sources familiar with the plans. Trump charged Guatemala with backing out on an immigration deal with the United States. [Emphasis added]
“If Guatemala doesn’t take significant action to help protect our borders, then we will, of course, look at all manner of solutions to the serious crisis we face,” a White House official told NPR, “whether it’s a travel ban, significant actions on remittances and/or tariffs.” [Emphasis added]
Already, Trump’s travel ban on Chad, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen has nearly stopped all legal immigration to the U.S. from these countries, as Breitbart News reported, making it the administration’s most effective immigration reform effort thus far.
A study conducted by the Latin American Public Opinion Project at Vanderbilt University this year revealed that about a million Guatemalans out of the country’s nearly 17 million residents say they are “very likely” to migrate to the U.S. in the next three years.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.
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