US compliments Guatemala for security cooperation

WASHINGTON – The acting head of the Homeland Security Department praised Guatemala on Wednesday for what he said was cooperation to tighten immigration security. Kevin McAleenan’s statement came a day after President Donald Trump railed against the Central American nation.

McAleenan said the collaboration is “already yielding significant results” and he mentioned a joint operation in Guatemala that broke up a human smuggling ring in May. He told counterparts from Honduras, El Salvador and Panama, and the Costa Rican ambassador that he wants similar cooperation.

Trump had tweeted that he may impose tariffs and tax remittance money, and he alleged that Guatemala refused to sign an asylum deal with the U.S. even though the country’s government didn’t say it had agreed to the arrangement.

It wasn’t the first time that there have been discrepancies before between Trump and his immigration officials.

In March, the president accused Mexican and Central American leaders of doing “nothing” to prevent immigrants from coming to the United States illegally. One day earlier, then-Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen met with some of those same leaders to hammer out an agreement aimed at reducing the number of migrants streaming north.

Neilsen, too, tried to highlight the cooperation between governments.

McAleenan said that thanks to the cooperation with Guatemala, both countries have been able to identify areas of collaboration along the border, such as ways to increase biometric collection capacity.

He said the minister-level group has focused over the past nine months on human trafficking, combating transnational criminal organizations and gangs, expanding information sharing and strengthening air, land and maritime border security.

Guatemala’s minister of government, Enrique Degenhart, said the working group will become more effective once it includes Colombia, just as Panama and Costa Rica attended Wednesday for the first time.

“I tell today to these (criminal) structures: Get ready because we are going after you,” Degenhart said. “We will not let you to keep using our territories.”