USA-IMMIGRATION/GUATEMALA Guatemalan president welcomes Obama's immigration reform on migration crisis

Record ID: 590359

  • Title: USA-IMMIGRATION/GUATEMALA Guatemalan president welcomes Obama's immigration reform on migration crisis
  • Date: 21st November 2014
  • Summary: TECUN UMAM, GUATEMALA (FILE) (REUTERS) BOAT PEOPLE SEEN ON RAFTS IN WATER PEOPLE ON RAFTS WALKING ON RIVER EDGE
  • Embargoed: 6th December 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Guatemala
  • Country: Guatemala
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAXUK2I8IH3AWDUJIHKGXKE4DE
  • Story Text: Guatemalan President Otto Perez said on Thursday (November 20) he backed U.S. President Barack Obama's immigration reform but others expressed concern that the measures will not stem the flow of undocumented migrants looking for work in the United States.
    In an address to the nation, Obama outlined executive action to let some 4.4 million parents of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents remain in the United States temporarily, without the threat of deportation. He said he took the step after Congress failed to pass immigration reform legislation.
    "First of all, we are thanking President (Barack) Obama and backing the decisions he has taken on the topic if migration. The U.S. estimate it (reform) will benefit more than four million people living over there in the United States. From those, we estimate that here in Guatemala more than 100,000 people could benefit," said Perez.
    About 11 million undocumented migrants are believed to live in the U.S and critics say large number of migrants-- those who have arrived recently, for example-- are not covered by the measures. Additionally, the president said border security will be enhanced and deportations will continue.
    Perez warned Guatemalans the measure only applied to people living in the United States.
    "The benefit only applies to Guatemalans already living in the United States, from January 1, 2010 and who have a child born in the United States. The benefit only applies to them. It's important to know that and it's important to say it because traffickers will take advantage of this, the famous coyotes (illegal human trafficker) will try to deceive Guatemalans, take them, charge them and when they reach the border, where there will be more security, they will lose their money," Perez said.
    Alejandra Gordillo of the National Council on Attention to Migrants of Guatemala said that Obama did not address the situation for the tens of thousands of migrants from Guatemala who risk their lives crossing Mexico and the U.S.-Mexican border.
    "We can see that many migrants are still left in limbo and what concerns us is what he said that people who enter in an illegal way are practically going to be persecuted. In other words, we see that there's a nuance to the message in terms of security, to once again stop irregular migration," she said.
    Obama's plan would allow undocumented residents who have been in the U.S. for more than 5 years and fulfil other requirements to apply legally for jobs and join American society, but not vote or qualify for insurance under the president's healthcare law. An additional 270,000 people would be eligible for relief under the expansion of a 2012 move by Obama to stop deporting people brought illegally to the United States as children by their parents.
    Last summer, the arrival of tens of thousands of illegal migrants from Central America - including more than 60,000 children travelling without parents - caused widespread alarm in Washington.
    Danilo Rivera, an analyst from the Central American Institute of Social Studies and Development, said it was important to realize that Obama's measures were not directed to new or future migrants, but to people who are already a part of U.S. society.
    "We must take into account that these are responses not to the humanitarian crisis but they're giving responses to people who can prove that they have contributed and they are contributing to U.S. development," he said.
    Last week, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden unveiled a plan that would allow some children in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to apply for refugee status from their home countries.
    The measures set up a showdown with Congressional Republicans who charge that Obama has overstepped his constitutional power a year after declaring he did not have the authority to act on his own.
    Obama argued his actions were not only lawful but the kinds of steps taken by presidents for the past half century, both Republican and Democratic.
    About 11 million undocumented migrants are believed to live in the U.S. and fewer than half are likely to be covered by the patchwork of immigration reform measures announced by the president.
    Guatemala has said it is seeking $10 billion - some $2 billion a year for five years - toward effort to clamp down on illegal migration, chiefly from the United States.
    It has also called for more visas for temporary workers. Obama said he would make it easier for high-skilled immigrants to stay in the U.S. but most Guatemalans are unlikely to qualify as highly skilled.
    Central American governments have urged Washington to shoulder the lion's share of the costs of stemming immigration, arguing that U.S. demand for illegal narcotics has fuelled violence among drug gangs across much of the impoverished region.
  • Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register