Immigration Raids in the U.S. Are Coming

The U.S. has announced that a number of immigration raids will be conducted. The deportations, while delayed, are intended to remove recently arrived families who are in the United States illegally. It has been reported that there are some two thousand families facing deportation orders in ten cities. On Wednesday, we asked Thomas Lersten about those raids and if there are large numbers of Belizeans to be deported. Here’s what he had to say.

Thomas Lersten, Deputy Director, Central American Affairs, U.S. Department of State

“What I can say is that the migration crisis and the migration out flows that we see from Central America, primarily the northern triangle countries, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala are of great concern to us and we are working very closely with our partners to try and alleviate the root causes of that illegal migration. So, that work continues.”

Thomas Lersten

Andrea Polanco

“Is Belize right up there in terms of some of the immigration issues that we’re seeing, perhaps many undocumented persons in the U.S.?”

Thomas Lersten

“No. It is not. So, there is no specific focus on Belize per se. And again, most of the focus today has been on the northern triangle countries and we hope that continues.”