Noem announces deal with Guatamala, Honduras to accept asylum seekers trying to enter US

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Thursday announced that the United States has signed an agreement with Honduras and Guatemala to take in asylum seekers who are trying to come to the U.S. 

The secretary announced the agreement on the final day of her trip to Central America, and comes as the Trump administration cracks down on illegal immigration and increases deportations of those who have committed serious crimes in the country. 

Noem claimed that migrants, who are often fleeing war-torn countries and oppressive regimes, should have the ability to choose other countries to move to instead of primarily fleeing to the United States, according to the Associated Press.

“Honduras and now Guatemala after today will be countries that will take those individuals and give them refugee status as well,” Noem said. “We’ve never believed that the United States should be the only option, that the guarantee for a refugee is that they go somewhere to be safe and to be protected from whatever threat they face in their country. It doesn’t necessarily have to be the United States.”

The U.S. already has an asylum agreement with Canada. Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed an agreement with Guatemala earlier this year, but the initial agreement just made Guatemala a transitional place for migrants who were being sent home, and not a place fully accepting migrants as refugees themselves.

Mexico on Tuesday said it would not sign an agreement with the United States, but that it has accepted more than 5,000 migrants from other countries who have been deported from the U.S. since Trump took office.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.