Guatemala
Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala
Full Name: The Republic of Guatemala
Date of Independence: September 15th, 1821
Capital: Guatemala City, Guatemala
Population: 17,703,190 (est. 2022)
Foreign-Born Population: Aprox. 80,000 (est. 2019)
Government Structure: Presidential Republic
Leader(s): President Bernardo Arévalo
Primary Flow of Immigration:
Sending Country, -1.66 migrants/1000 population (est. 2022)
Current Stance on Immigration: [or] Major Destinations of Emigrants:
The major destination for Guatemalan immigrants is the United States.
Within the United States, the states with the most Guatemalan immigrants are Texas, Florida, and California.
Outside of North and Central America, many Guatemalan immigrants have settled in Spain, Germany, Argentina, Colombia, Korea, and China.
Recent Immigration Policy: [or] Primary “Push” Factors
Recent Immigration Policy:
Asylum Cooperation Agreement with Trump Administration
Agreed to become a third “safe country,” in the Trump’s Administration to combat the “crisis at the border.”
The agreement was rescinded by the Biden Administration
Root Causes Strategy with Biden Administration
The Biden Administration prioritized addressing the common push factors that lead to immigration to the United States—like poverty, unemployment, and crime—by investing in the countries in the Northern Triangle.
Common Push Factors:
Food Insecurity
Poverty
Limited employment opportunities.
Environmental disasters, like droughts, volcano explosions, and storms.
Violence
Guatemala shares the highest murder rates in the world due to drug trafficking and organized crime alongside Honduras and El Salvador.
Physical, sexual, and psychological abuse force women to flee the country.
Political Instability
Corruption: In 2015, Guatemala’s President Otto Perez Molina was forced to resign and put in jail. Other instances of corruption, however, still plague the country.
Recently inaugurated President Bernardo Arevalo also faced resistance while assuming his democratically elected position as President.
Further Reading:
The Migration Policy Institute Guatemala Country Profile: https://www.migrationpolicy.org/country-resource/guatemala
Pew Research Data on Guatemala
