GUATEMALA CITY, November 17 (Sputnik) – Recent US-led efforts to stop immigrants from reaching its southern border are blocking many from the chance to make genuine asylum claims, Shaina Aber, a policy director at the US Jesuit Conference told Sputnik Monday.
“The US had funded the deployment of the Mexican gendarmerie on the northern border of Mexico, who have picked migrants up before they across the border and are never put within the purview of the US,” said Aber, co-author of a new study on immigration in the Americas.
“Many people are going north for the traditional reasons, but we are also very aware that there are lots of people going north because they seek international protection from threats back home. Those going through the asylum process in Mexico do not benefit from the same safeguards we would expect to be in place.”
The US Embassy in Guatemala and the US State Department did not respond to requests for a comment.
Washington spends $18 billion each year on drones, guard posts and other forms of border security, as well as funding Mexico and Central American states to halt the flows of migrants headed to the United States looking for jobs and to join relatives.
US President Barack Obama says he will use his executive power to push through changes to the US immigration system “before the end of the year”. This is expected to involve temporary deportation relief to some of the estimated 11.3 million immigrants, who live in America without papers.
