Guatemala's president-elect says asylum deal made with U.S. is off the table

Alejandro Giammattei.
(Image credit: Johan Ordonez/AFP/Getty Images)

Guatemala is struggling to provide for its own people, president-elect Alejandro Giammattei said Tuesday, and there's no way the country will be able to support an influx of migrants.

During an interview with The Associated Press, Giammattei said the immigration agreement cobbled together in July by outgoing President Jimmy Morales and the Trump administration just won't work. Under the deal, migrants who cross into Guatemala on their way to the United States must apply for asylum there first; only if they are denied can they go on and request asylum in the U.S.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.