This archive report was first published on 27 July 2019.
On July 27, 2019, the US and Guatemala signed a migration agreement, just days after US President Donald Trump threatened the Central American country with tariffs.
Under the deal, migrants from Honduras and El Salvador who pass through Guatemala would be required to stop and seek asylum there first. Those who failed to do so would then be ineligible for asylum in the US.
According to the Guatemalan government, the agreement will last for two years and will be reviewed every three months. Neither side is obliged to make any funding available under the plan.
Guatemala's President Jimmy Morales had been due to sign a deal with Mr. Trump last week, but the Guatemalan Constitutional Court ruled he could not sign without approval from Congress.
Responding to the Guatemalan Constitutional Court decision, President Morales said on Twitter: 'All this jeopardizes the bilateral relationship with the United States that will lead to possible sanctions.'
A tax on Guatemalan remittances would have posed a significant threat to the nation's economy, as Guatemalan nationals living abroad sent back $9.5 billion in 2018 – 12% of the country's GDP, according to the World Bank.
