U.S. sends first Salvadoran back to Guatemala under asylum deal
CGTN
Migrants from Honduras and El Salvador are sent back to Guatemala from the United States, at Casa del Migrante shelter in Guatemala City, December 3, 2019. /Reuters Photo

Migrants from Honduras and El Salvador are sent back to Guatemala from the United States, at Casa del Migrante shelter in Guatemala City, December 3, 2019. /Reuters Photo

Guatemala has received its first Salvadoran citizen from the United States under a new migration agreement that designates the Central American nation a "safe third country" for asylum seekers, Guatemalan authorities said on Tuesday.

The program kicked off in late November, when a Honduran man flew from El Paso, Texas, to Guatemala City on a nearly empty Boeing 737. This marks the second flight.

The plane, which arrived Tuesday morning from Mesa, Arizona, also had 84 Guatemalans and two Hondurans aboard, said Alejandra Mena, a spokeswoman for Guatemala's migration institute.

She did not specify whether the migrants from Honduras and El Salvador would seek asylum in Guatemala or return to their countries.

The program marks a policy achievement for U.S. President Donald Trump, who has demanded help from Mexico and Central America in curbing the flow of migrants seeking to request asylum in the United States.

Earlier this year, the U.S. signed agreements with Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, requiring migrants on their way to the U.S. to apply for protections in those countries first.

If the migrants fail to do so, U.S. immigration authorities will send them back to these countries, where crime, violence and lack of economic opportunity have driven many to flee over the past year.

(With input from Reuters)