The USA is the destination of all hopes for hundreds of thousands of refugees from Latin America. But many are sent back and are then considered failures. This is also why many want to try again
The bell of the refugee shelter “Casa del Migrante” in the north of Guatemala City rarely stops ringing. Long queues are forming again this afternoon, with refugees constantly asking to be let in at the heavy steel door. The house can accommodate 120 people per night.
A group of five Venezuelans are also hoping for a place to sleep for the night. They don't want to stay any longer, but want to quickly move on to Mexico and finally to the USA. They have stowed their belongings in makeshift plastic bags and dusty backpacks.
Many people here have already made it through the Darién and discarded everything they don't need. The jungle area between Colombia and Panama has become the main refugee route for people from the Caribbean and Venezuela heading north.
Along the way, they are not only threatened by natural forces such as scorching heat and oppressive humidity, but also by criminal gangs who rob, rape and murder.
The next stop: the dangerous south of Mexico
Nevertheless, the refugees believe that what lies ahead of them once they leave Guatemala will be worse. Mexico's south is a bottleneck where corruption, attacks and human trafficking are on the rise, explains Padre Francisco Pellizzari, who runs the “Casa del Migrante”:
In Mexico, a gigantic network of cartels controls the refugee routes; they are involved in drug smuggling and human trafficking through the so-called coyotes, i.e. human smugglers. Even if Mexico claims otherwise, there is no longer any state control of the cartel powers there.
Mexico and the USA are tightening their course
But many migrants are also afraid of the Mexican government itself. In 2023, Mexico picked up 782,000, the highest number since records began. The country has thus become a real wall on the way to the USA.
In the spring, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador also signed repatriation agreements with Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela. Mexico has assured the South American states that it will support the return of migrants to their homeland.
The USA has also tightened entry rules for migrants in the middle of the election campaign. Since June, refugees who come to the USA irregularly from Mexico can be deported without their asylum applications being processed; there are hardly any exceptions anymore.
Crossed the border – and soon deported
The Guatemalan María, whose name has been changed here at her request, is one of those deported. She was on the road for two months. She left her five children with her family in her small home village in northern Guatemala and exposed herself to the many risks along the way in order to offer them a better future. “Here in Guatemala, what I earn is not enough.”
She tells her story apathetically in the migrant accommodation “Casa del Migrante”. She even crossed the border to the USA, applied for asylum there, but had no prospect of staying. She ended up directly in a reception camp.
“In El Paso they put me in a cell for nine days. It was bitterly cold. The plane left at three o'clock this morning.” This morning she landed back in Guatemala on a deportation flight from the USA and was put up in the “Casa del Migrante”. She seems resigned and depressed.
In Tapachula, migrants are queuing up to get an appointment with US authorities, where they hope to apply for asylum.
Highly indebted – and ready for the next attempt
She paid a “coyote”, a human smuggler, around 13,000 euros for the route. That is a lot of money, especially for Guatemalans – they earn an average of 350 euros per month.
To undertake the arduous journey, she had to borrow money from her father and brother, who already live in the USA. Now she has debts that she cannot repay. “I think I will try again. My children are my driving force. Life is very hard.”
Returning to a foreign country
The Guatemalan Migration Office estimates that around 80,000 refugees will be returned to Guatemala from Mexico and the USA in 2023 alone. Many people return traumatized, says social worker Karina López, who advises and cares for the deportees in the “Casa del Migrante”.
“Physically and psychologically they are exhausted. Some have lived in the USA for years, are separated from their families and return to a country they barely know.” The returnees are also called “retornados” in Spanish.
One of them is 43-year-old Guatemalan Douglas. He says he fled to the USA 20 years ago because he was threatened by a violent gang in his home village. Back then, the escape route seemed easy compared to today. He jumped onto a freight train called “El Bestia” on which thousands of migrants were trying to cross Mexico.
After swimming across the border river Rio Grande, he built a life for himself in Texas with his wife and daughter. “I even pay taxes in the USA,” he emphasizes.
He has never committed a crime and has integrated himself into society. But he still does not have a residence permit.
They have crossed the Suchiate border river and left Guatemala behind. But there are many question marks about what will happen next on their journey through Mexico.
A hospital visit with consequences
When his mother became ill, he wanted to visit her and left the USA voluntarily – without realizing how difficult it would be for him to re-enter the country without papers. He had already tried to get back into the USA once – and was deported.
Now he is not allowed to try to enter the country again for another five years, otherwise he could be arrested. But staying in Guatemala is not an option for him either. The criminal gang of his youth is still active in his home village. He also wants to return to his family at all costs, as his daughter will be celebrating her sixth birthday in October.
Returnees are considered failures
Many “retornados” lack prospects in their home country. The problems they fled from remain. Added to this is the stigma: “retornados” are seen as failures. They are desperate, owe money to family, friends or neighbors. As a result, they are often put under pressure in their home town.
Very few wanted to stay, the majority tried again and again, says Guatemalan political scientist Luis Mack: “The logic is: If I stay here, I will die of hunger. But if I leave, I can die on the way or I can make it. So there is more hope if I set out.”
In Guatemala, half of the population lives below the poverty line, and a quarter suffers from hunger. There is great hope that the emigrants will send money home. In 2023, Guatemala received 18 billion euros in so-called remittances from those who made it and arrived in the USA.
Jenny Barke, ARD Mexico City, tagesschau, 29.08.2024 15:32
