GUATEMALA CITY.- On a day marked by disappointment and financial burden, a group of 89 Guatemalansmany of them facing considerable debt after disbursing significant sums to human traffickers, arrived this Wednesday at Guatemala on the first flight of deportees from USA in 2024, according to an official source.
After a record year with 55,302 Guatemalans deported in 2023, this first contingent of deportees, including 47 minors, landed on the capital’s air force runway, coming from El Paso, Texas, as indicated by Alejandra Mena, the spokesperson for the Guatemalan Migration Institute (IGM).
“The situation in the country becomes more difficult every day, and the economy cannot do more. We have to look for new horizons to see how to move forward with the family,” one of the deportees, identified as Roberto Ramírez, told the press. .
Ramírez acknowledged that the trip was extremely difficult and fearful due to the threat of being detained by immigration authorities and the presence of drug “cartels” along the journey, even traveling with human traffickers known as “coyotes.” to those who had to pay to be able to pass through certain places.
This trip led Ramírez to mortgage his house to pay for the services of the “coyotes”, and now he finds himself in the difficult situation of considering another attempt at an irregular trip to pay off his debts.
Another deportee, Luis Pineda, shared that his debt now amounts to $10,000 due to the trip, but despite having been deceived by traffickers and recognizing the danger of the journey, he expressed his intention to try again.
“We suffered, we spent ten days in a type of hotel and another nine days locked up in the United States,” recalled Pineda, who began the journey on December 12.
Remittances sent from the US
Family remittances sent to Guatemala from abroad, mainly from the United States, totaled 18.04 billion dollars in 2022, and are projected to reach a record of 20 billion this year, according to estimates by the Bank of Guatemala (Banguat). These resources play an essential role in the Guatemalan economy, surpassing exports in value, which reached $15.7 billion in 2022.
Despite the challenges, the irregular emigration of thousands of Guatemalans to the United States continues to be a response to the violence and poverty that affects almost 60% of the 17.7 million inhabitants, according to official statistics. The Foreign Ministry estimates that approximately 2.7 million Guatemalans reside in the United States, although only 400,000 have documents to work.
Source: With information from AFP
