U.S. Homeland Secretary Kelly warns
Guatemalans to stay home
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[February 23, 2017]
By Luis Echeverria
GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - U.S. Homeland
Security Secretary John Kelly on Wednesday told Guatemalans not to waste
their money trying to get to the United States illegally, detailing how
his department was cracking down on undocumented immigrants and would
speed up deportations.
Speaking after he greeted a plane full of Guatemalans deported back from
the United States, Kelly said U.S. authorities were not carrying out
mass deportations of immigrants and would follow the law.
But he stressed that deportees would be returned their home countries
more quickly than in the past.
"If you're a Guatemalan who is considering paying a great deal of money
to a coyote (smuggler) to bring you to the United States, you'll be
wasting your money," Kelly said at a Guatemalan Air Force base where 347
deportees earlier arrived on a flight.
"You will be returned very quickly," he said.
Kelly left Guatemala shortly after speaking to reporters, headed for
Mexico where he and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson were expected
to explain new U.S. immigration measures to their counterparts.
U.S. immigration courts have a large backlog of cases, meaning it can
take years to deport some undocumented immigrants.
In recent years, tens of thousands of Central American children and
families have moved to the United States, many seeking asylum from
ruthless street gangs.
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U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly attends a joint news
conference with Guatemala's Foreign Minister Carlos Raul Morales in
Guatemala City, Guatemala February 22, 2017. REUTERS/Eduardo
Gonzalez
Kelly made his comments a day after his department said it planned
to deport non-Mexican irregular immigrants to Mexico, regardless of
their nationality.
The plan angered Mexican officials, with their lead negotiator and
Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray saying there was no way Mexico would
accept it.
(Writing by Christine Murray; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and
Jonathan Oatis)
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