Guatemala ready to receive deported illegal aliens from other countries: Report

Guatemala is reportedly prepared to accept deported illegal aliens from other countries to assist with President-elect Donald Trump’s sweeping removals.

According to a Thursday report from Reuters, three sources confirmed that Guatemala is willing to receive deportation flights carrying other Central American nationals.

‘We aren’t ready for it, but we know it’s coming.’

NBC News previously reported that the Trump administration was putting together a list of countries that would accept illegal immigrants from other nations. The news outlet claimed the list consisted of Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas, Panama, and Grenada.

Last week, incoming border czar Tom Homan confirmed that the administration already has countries lined up that are willing to take illegal immigrants should their countries of origin decline to accept deportation flights from the U.S.

Homan stated that Venezuelan nationals, including members of Tren de Aragua, who are in the U.S. illegally will be deported even if the country continues to reject repatriation flights.

“They’re going to be arrested. They’re going to be detained. And they’re going to be removed,” he said. “I’ve been talking to several different countries that, if Venezuela don’t take them back, we’ve got other countries that are stepping up and saying they will. So they will be deported.”

Trump previously stated that Venezuela will begin accepting deportation flights.

Homan noted that during Trump’s first term, the president was able to pressure El Salvador to take back MS-13 gang members.

“If the negotiation or the discussion takes a little while [with Venezuela], we’ve got several other countries willing to take them on day one,” he said.

There are a dozen other countries, including China, Haiti, and Cuba, that House Republicans have determined are currently uncooperative with repatriation efforts.

A Guatemalan official, who asked to remain anonymous, told Reuters, “There has to be a regional response.”

“And we want to be part of the solution,” the official stated.

The official told Reuters that Guatemala is already accepting 14 deportation flights each week under the Biden administration and is reportedly gearing up for an increase when Trump takes office.

A second Guatemalan official told the news outlet, “We aren’t ready for it, but we know it’s coming.”

Reports that Guatemala will accept illegal immigrants from other countries came after news on Sunday of a Guatemalan national, who was illegally in the U.S., allegedly setting a woman on fire while riding a New York City subway train. The woman succumbed to her injuries.

The suspect, 33-year-old Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, was previously deported from the U.S. in 2018. He illegally re-entered the country at an unknown later date.

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