U.S. and Guatemala Sign Secretive Deal on Central American Asylum Seekers

A migrants from El Salvador wait to be attended by Salvadoran migration authorities in La Hachadura, El Salvador, Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2018. A fourth group of about 700 Salvadorans set out from the capital, San Salvador, with plans to walk to the U.S. border, 1,500 miles away.
A migrants from El Salvador wait to be attended by Salvadoran migration authorities in La Hachadura, El Salvador, Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2018. A fourth group of about 700 Salvadorans set out from the capital, San Salvador, with plans to walk to the U.S. border, 1,500 miles away. Diana Ulloa / AP Photo
A migrants from El Salvador wait to be attended by Salvadoran migration authorities in La Hachadura, El Salvador, Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2018. A fourth group of about 700 Salvadorans set out from the capital, San Salvador, with plans to walk to the U.S. border, 1,500 miles away.
A migrants from El Salvador wait to be attended by Salvadoran migration authorities in La Hachadura, El Salvador, Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2018. A fourth group of about 700 Salvadorans set out from the capital, San Salvador, with plans to walk to the U.S. border, 1,500 miles away. Diana Ulloa / AP Photo

U.S. and Guatemala Sign Secretive Deal on Central American Asylum Seekers

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Hundreds of migrants have been released following Wednesday’s wave of ICE raids that initially saw almost 700 people arrested. Deportations are, however, just one part of the U.S. crackdown on migration and American efforts to limit the flow of migrants to its southern border go much further than Americans soil, to agreements on migrant policing and detention with Mexico and Central American nations. President Trump announced he had signed an agreement with Guatemala to limit asylum seekers, though the deal’s specifics have not been publicly released. Cofounder and executive director of the Alianza Americas network of immigrant rights organizations Oscar Chacon joins us from Mexico City for an update on migration policy and what changes in Mexican and Guatemalan politics could mean for it.