Yesterday, the Trump Administration published two notices in the federal register which would implement the "Asylum Cooperative Agreement" or "Safe Third Country Agreement" signed with Guatemala in July. In response, Jerrold Nadler, Chair of the House Committee on the Judiciary, and Zoe Lofgren, Chair of the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship, released the following statement:
“It is clear to anyone looking at the situation in Guatemala that it cannot reasonably be classified as a ‘safe third country.' Guatemala has the ninth-highest murder rate in the world, and violence against women and girls is a pervasive problem. Under no metric is Guatemala considered safe. Further, with less than 10 employees adjudicating asylum claims, Guatemala does not meet the legal standards for ‘safe third country agreements,’ which require that individuals in that country 'have access to a full and fair procedure for determining a claim for asylum.'”
“Unfortunately this is just the latest illegal attempt by this President and Stephen Miller to destroy our nation's asylum system. Further, the fact that the Administration coerced a country with threats of tariffs and attempts to cut off aid do not change the fact that Guatemala remains ill-equipped to protect its own citizens, let alone to meet the needs of migrants coming from other countries.”
