More than 55,000 Guatemalans were returned by the United States this year, a record that exceeds that of 2019, when 54,500 were deported, after the last three repatriation flights arrived in the country on Friday, an official source reported.
A total of 55,302 Guatemalans were expelled from US soil, 31,267 adult men, 13,631 adult women and the rest under 18 years old, the Guatemalan Migration Institute (IGM) specified in a report.
Guatemalans were deported on 470 flights throughout the year, IGM spokeswoman Alejandra Mena told journalists. The official said that the last three aircraft landed on the runway of the Guatemalan Air Force base in the capital with 376 people from three cities in Texas.
Thousands of Guatemalans irregularly emigrate each year to the United States to escape the violence and poverty that affects almost 60% of the 17.7 million inhabitants, according to official data.
Family remittances sent from abroad to Guatemala in 2022, mostly from the United States, totaled $18.040 billion and this year could close with a record $20 billion, according to projections from the Bank of Guatemala (Central Bank).
These economic resources are essential for the Guatemalan economy since last year they exceeded the value of the country’s exports, which totaled almost $15.7 billion.
During 2022, the United States deported 40,713 Guatemalans by air, a figure that doubled the 17,806 deported in 2021 and the 21,057 deported in 2020, years in which flights were irregular due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
So far the record number of deportations from US territory occurred in 2019, when 54,599 Guatemalans were expelled, according to the IGM. The Foreign Ministry estimates that about 2.7 million Guatemalans are in the United States, but only 400,000 have documents to work.
