Why were Guatemalan border jumpers released and sent back?
George Lovell
As we said, patient twenty-two is a Guatemalan border jumper. He and two other Guatemalan men and a Belizean were detained over the weekend at a checkpoint in Unitedville Village, Cayo. The four men reportedly entered the country illegally through the western border and were swabbed and placed in quarantine at the Victor Galvez Stadium in San Ignacio Town. But by the time the positive result was confirmed, it was learnt that the men had been released and returned to Guatemala. Now, it appears a bit unusual considering that the other twenty-plus previous border jumpers have been placed in quarantine and some have already been charged and jailed. Today, we asked C.E.O. in the Ministry of National Security George Lovell why this course of action was taken considering that they have broken the law. Here’s how he explains it:
Andrea Polanco
“Is that a normal course of action – wouldn’t those persons be left here to be charged for illegal entry?”
George Lovell, CEO, Ministry of National Security
“It all depends. Each case has to be dealt with on a case by case basis. I have seen the press release that was sent out and I wouldn’t want to say anything contrary to or anything additional to what was sent out in that regards. But I can tell you these cases are dealt with on a case by case basis by the task force. And the people who have to deal with the whole aspect of border jumpers and people who are placed in quarantine facilities that we have. There is a team that is made up of Ministry of Health because it is a health issue; Ministry of Immigration; Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Ministry of National Security; And we have a task force commander who also weigh in on these activities. My understanding of that last particular incident that you are referring to, is that a number of these ministries and departments have in fact looked at that particular case and they had decided it would have made much more sense to have these people given an OTL rather than placed into the facility because there was no basis under which they could determine when these people came into the country and where they came in from. They know that they were here and they had no evidence to prove anything contrary to what they were saying and so they just had to OTL them. Unfortunately, as the report suggested one of them was swabbed and it was proven to be positive.”
Andrea Polanco
“But it was determined that they entered the country illegally – so there is that charge?”
George Lovell
“When was that determined? It was determined maybe because you meet an individual who is here and doesn’t have documents but we have so many illegal immigrants in our country as we speak. How do you know when they came in and where they came in from?”
Reporter
“Well, the press release indicated that they were illegal entrants – so they would have determined that?”
George Lovell
“They are illegal entrants because they may not have a stamp – but that…”
Reporter
“Well no-one is allowed to come in and go out this point. The borders remain closed.”
George Lovell
“How did you know that they came in at the point that you are talking about?”
