Trump threatens Guatemala after its court blocks asylum deal
WASHINGTON— President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened retribution against Guatemala over immigration after the country's high court blocked i ts government from signing an asylum deal with the United States.
Trump tweeted that Guatemala has decided against signing a “safethird agreement” requiring Central American migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. to instead apply for those protections in Guatemala, even though the country's government never said it had agreed to the arrangement.
Guatemala “has decided to break the deal they had with us on signing a necessary Safe Third Agreement. We were ready to go,” Trump complained. “Now we are looking at the `BAN,'” he wrote, along with tariffs, fees on remittance money Guatemalans working in the U.S. send back to their country, “or all of the above.”
Trump later painted the court ruling as a convenient excuse for the country, saying: “In other words, they didn't want to sign it.”
Trump has been trying to get countries including Guatemala to do more to stop the flood of Central American migrants who have been overwhelming the U.S. southern border, jeopardizing his campaign promise to end illegal immigration. Negotiations over a potential deal ended when Guatemala' s Constitutional Court granted three injunctions preventing President Jimmy Moral es from entering into a deal.
A July 15 meeting between Trump and Guatemala' sp re sident was also called off because the high court had yet to issue its ruling.
Morales responded to the tweets with a statement posted on Facebook bl a ming Guatemala's Constitutional Court justices for up setting Trump.
“The repercussions of the Government of the United States of America toward Guatemala derive from a series of counterproductive actions by the Constitutional Court, which on repeated occasions has ruled against the content and spirit of our Constitution,” Morales said, adding that “most of its judges, identified as having personal political interests, have used their investment to meddle in the foreign policy of the Guatemalan state.”
Trump nonetheless accused the country's leaders of having gone “back on their word to us” in remarks at a summit of conservative teenagers in Washington.
“They were all set to sign a safe third agreement and then today or yesterday, they announced t hey can't do it because they got a Supreme Court ruling. Their Supreme Court, right?” Trump said in a dismissive tone, repeating his tariff and “ban” threat.