Guatemala's president says U.S. should invest more to deter migration
CBSN
Washington — Nearly three years ago, Vice President Kamala Harris stood alongside the then-president of Guatemala in his palace and delivered a message to would-be migrants: "Do not come" to the United States.
Her pleas didn't work. Since June 2021, when Harris made those remarks, U.S. officials have tallied 709,305 encounters with migrants from Guatemala along the southern border, according to government data. More than 2 million migrants of all nationalities are expected to be apprehended along the border by the end of this fiscal year in September, which would be the third straight year of sustained foot traffic across the span.
Asked this week whether migrants have heeded Harris' request from three years ago, Guatemala's new president, Bernardo Arévalo, shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well, I don't know. You do the numbers."
