Trump’s request to have Guatemala accept asylum seekers postponed

July 15 (UPI) — A proposal to turn Guatemala into a “safe third country” for Central American asylum seekers has been delayed until a Guatemalan court rules on the matter.

A meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales was postponed. Trump is requesting Guatemala accept asylum seekers from Honduras, El Salvador and others who pass through en route to the United States. Such a deal could ease the immigration crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border.

A senior Trump administration official said the meeting was “being rescheduled” and the United States “will continue to work with the government of Guatemala on concrete and immediate steps that can be taken to address the ongoing migration crisis.”

Morales’ office released a statement saying Guatemala’s constitutional court hasn’t ruled on Trump’s request. It hints that Morales could reject Trump’s request.

“Due to speculation and legal proceedings admitted for processing to the Constitutional Court, a decision was made to reschedule the bilateral meeting until we know what was resolved by the court,” a statement said. “The government of the republic reiterates that at no moment has it contemplated signing an agreement to convert Guatemala into a safe third country.”

Some Guatemalans argue that the government can’t help migrants and asylum seekers when they have thousands of people migrating out of the country as well.

(function(d, s, id) {
if (d.getElementById(id)) return;
var js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = ‘//cdn4.wibbitz.com/static.js’;
d.getElementsByTagName(‘body’)[0].appendChild(js);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘wibbitz-static-embed’));