DHS Chief Tells Guatemalans US Won’t Have Mass Deportations

DHS Chief Tells Guatemalans US Won’t Have Mass Deportations
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security John F. Kelly (L) shakes hands with Guatemala's Foreign Minister Carlos Morales, during a photo opportunity at the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Guatemala City on Feb. 22, 2017. AP Photo/Luis Soto
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GUATEMALA CITY—U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly said Wednesday on a visit to Guatemala that there won’t be mass deportations by the Unites States, but he strongly discouraged any Guatemalans from considering the journey north.

The executive orders issued by President Donald Trump on border security and immigration enforcement will result in people trying to enter the U.S. illegally being caught at the border, where they will be “treated fairly and humanely and returned to their home countries,” Kelly said.

“There will be no mass roundups,” he said. But those caught “will be returned to their country much quicker than has been the case for the last decade or so.”

Guatemalan Foreign Minister Carlos Raul Morales said after President Jimmy Morales’ meeting with Kelly that “the most important thing is that they have told us that there will not be mass deportations, and that they will be focused precisely on those people who represent a security threat or who have committed a crime.”

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security John F. Kelly (L) and Guatemala's Foreign Minister Carlos Morales give a joint press conference at the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Guatemala City on Feb. 22, 2017. (AP Photo/Luis Soto)
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security John F. Kelly (L) and Guatemala's Foreign Minister Carlos Morales give a joint press conference at the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Guatemala City on Feb. 22, 2017. AP Photo/Luis Soto