Trump: US to start removing illegals
US President Donald Trump said the United States would start removing “millions” of illegal migrants next week as Washington pressured three neighboring countries for action against illicit migration. The US Department of State said it would suspend aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras unless they stopped undocumented migrants from going to the United States.
WASHINGTON— The United States will start removing “millions” of illegal migrants next week, US President Donald Trump said on Monday, adding that Guatemala is preparing to sign a safe third country deal.
“Next week ICE will begin the process of removing the millions of illegal aliens who have illicitly found their way into the United States. They will be removed as fast as they come in,” Trump said on Twitter, referring to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.
Guatemala deal
He added that “Guatemala is getting ready to sign a SafeThird Agreement,” an apparent reference to a pact in which migrants entering Guatemalan territory would have to apply for refugee status there.
The United States is facing a surge in migrant arrivals from Guatemala and other impoverished Central American countries that are plagued by gang violence.
The numbers have overwhelmed the ability of US authorities to temporarily shelter and process them.
Trump has called it “an invasion,” and has made the fight against illegal migration a central plank of his administration.
Earlier on Monday, the United States said it would not give more aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras unless they deter undocumented migrants from heading for the United States.
For fiscal 2019, $370 million initially planned will be allocated to other foreign policy priorities, the US Department of State said, and all future aid is now conditional.
“We will not provide new funds for programs in those countries until we are satisfied the Northern Triangle governments are taking concrete actions to reduce the number of illegal migrants coming to the US border,” Morgan Ortagus, US state department spokesperson, said.
Under a deal between the United States and Mexico this month to avert threatened tariffs, Mexico agreed to deploy 6,000 National Guardsmen to reinforce its southern border and to expand its policy of taking back migrants as the United States processes their asylum claims.
“Mexico, using their strong immigration laws, is doing a very good job of stopping people long before they get to our Southern Border,” Trump said on Monday.