Deportations continue to spread the virus in Central America

The number of deportees infected with Coronavirus is alarming and generates fear of a massive spread in the territories of Central America.

The US government, in an effort to protect local public health, is deporting hundreds of immigrants daily to Latin American countries such as Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico.

President Trump’s main argument is that the country should not receive any immigrant seeking asylum or refuge while the risk of the virus decreases globally.

Thus, anyone who reaches the borders at this time is deported immediately before they can even enter US’ territory.

This government decision has created chaos and controversy among immigrant communities, immigrant rights advocates, and thousands of citizens calling for respect of the international human rights.

The most alarming thing about the situation is that the number of infected deportees increases every day.

Guatemala

Guatemala has already suffered the consequences of receiving immigrants deported from the US who have spread the virus in the temporary shelters installed at the capital’s airport.

A total of 50 deportees infected with COVID-19 have arrived in Guatemala during the past week.

That means that deportation flights sponsored by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) are exposed to being carriers of the virus and all the immigrants who traveled on those planes were in direct contact with infected people, which is even a bigger concern.

Therefore, Guatemala chose to use the temporary shelters to quarantine all deportees from the US.

This measure helps prevent a massive outbreak in the territory of Guatemala, however, it does not prevent all deported immigrants from being infected.

Dozens of deported immigrants are adults who are more vulnerable to the spread of the virus and are at increased risk for respiratory complications.

For now, the Guatemalan government is trying to implement solutions to save as many lives as possible.

The US government will not stop deportations because they will not receive new immigrants in detention centers for at least 60 days due to the pandemic.

Mexico

The Mexican government expressed concern regarding deportations amid a health crisis.

The main reason for Mexico’s concern is that an immigrant deported from the US already infected 14 people in the northern area of the country.

Mexico does not have temporary shelters or strict protections to stop the entry of the virus across borders.

The US government stated that ICE is following all mandatory sanitary measures before deporting immigrants.

This is a giant concern for Mexico because it means that with each deportation flight sent from the US, the country is at risk of a massive spread within its territory.

The risks for Central America

It is imperative to recognize that Central America does not have a strong social infrastructure to withstand a massive health crisis.

Latin American territories demand to the US protection for neighboring countries and to stop deporting Coronavirus-infected immigrants.

The risk that Central America has is abysmal and can have almost irreversible repercussions for the most vulnerable societies.

Central America could suffer multiple negative consequences.

• These countries do not have enough economic resources to balance an economic crisis in their territories.
• The medical sector does not have enough supplies to save as many lives as possible.
• The medical infrastructure could be saturated and collapse in the midst of the health crisis caused by COVID-19.
• There is a possibility of socio-political crisis in the Latin American territories.
• If the US continues to deport infected immigrants, Central America may be in danger of a massive outbreak in its territories.

Therefore, the US government must carefully evaluate the measures implemented for deportations.

That could change the destiny of many lives and flatten the contagion curve.

The US could implement immigration possibilities for the population of Central America without putting local public health at risk.

On the other hand, the governments of Central America can try to reduce immigration from their territories by offering a better quality of life for their population and thus could prevent current deportations.

In fact, the US has made several donations to the countries of Central America for illegal immigration to be considerably reduced.

If you have any questions about an immigration issue or relating to a case you may have currently in progress, then please don’t hesitate to contact us for a FREE Phone Consultation with one of our expert immigration attorneys.

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