By: Staff Writer
January 31, 2025
The US Trump administration has now set Colombia straight on deportations and is now eyeing El Salvador and other Central American countries for mass deportations, particularly to countries that are not their own.
The Trump administration is developing an asylum agreement with El Salvador’s government that would allow the U.S. to deport migrants to the small Central American country who are not from there, two sources familiar with the internal deliberations have reportedly said.
The arrangement, known as a “Safe Third Country” agreement, would empower U.S. immigration officials to deport non-Salvadoran migrants to El Salvador, blocking them from requesting asylum in the U.S. Instead, the migrants would be deported with instructions to seek asylum in El Salvador, which would be designated a “safe third country.”
The plan, if finalized, would revive an agreement the first Trump administration brokered with El Salvador’s government, though that accord was never implemented and was eventually terminated by former President Joe Biden’s administration.
Donald Trump, prior to his inauguration, promised that he would be sending migrants back to countries not of their origin.
At least, The Bahamian government has already told the Trump administration that it cannot absorb migrants from another country other than The Bahamas and under no circumstance could it be facilitated.
Meanwhile, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed on January 27 that her country had received over 4,000 migrants from the United States in the past week, though she noted there had not been a “substantial” increase in deportees. While the majority were Mexican nationals, the acceptance of non-Mexican migrants marks a reversal from her administration’s previous staunch opposition to such measures.
The White House reports detaining more than 1,000 people in two days during raids across the country, with hundreds deported by military aircraft – a stark contrast to the Biden administration’s average of 310 daily arrests.
“There are consequences for entering the country illegally,” said border czar Tom Homan at a press conference, warning of “collateral arrests” during raids.
Immigrants are clearly not welcomed in the US any longer, particularly immigrants from developing Latin American and Caribbean countries.