The Biden administration, in an effort to appear as though it has the ongoing immigration crisis in hand, announced Monday that it had inked a deal with Guatemala, Mexico, and Honduras to increase border security along all three countries’ borders, effectively stifling the flow of migrants from Central America.
Now, though, Guatemala, one of the countries where many of the illegal immigrants captured at the United States-Mexico border originate, says it signed no such deal, and that any increase in border security is the result of actions taken earlier this year, without any agreement with or from the Biden administration.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki touted the agreement during her daily press conference, Monday.
“The objective is to make it more difficult to make the journey, and make crossing the borders more more difficult,” she said, referring to actions supposedly taken in concert with Mexico and other Central American countries. “We worked with them to increase law enforcement at the border to deter the travel, which is a treacherous journey … where many lose their lives.”
“According to Psaki, Mexico will maintain a presence of 10,000 troops along its southern border. Guatemala will send 1,500 military and police personnel to its border with Honduras while setting up 12 checkpoints along migration routes,” the Hill reported, based on Biden administration claims.
The Hill notes that White House Domestic Policy Council aide Tyler Moran repeated the claim in an interview with MSNBC earlier this week, claiming that the administration had “secured agreements for [the three countries] to put more troops on their own border. Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala have all agreed to do this. That not only is going to prevent the traffickers, and the smugglers, and cartels that take advantage of the kids on their way here, but also to protect those children.”
Guatemala’s government, though, said in a statement Tuesday that it did not negotiate or sign an agreement with the Biden administration and that it moved troops to its border months ago, in January.
“President Alejandro Guimmattei has committed, since the beginning of his term in January 2020, to strengthen border security as a strategy to battle transnational threats like drug trafficking, human trafficking, and as a preventive measure in the face of the pandemic,” Guatemala said in its statement.
Guatemala’s government also notes that it deployed the military to the border to “maintain their commitment to fortifying border security,” implying the move came as a result of agreements in place before President Joe Biden took office.
As The Daily Wire reported earlier Wednesday, it appears the Biden administration is trying to shift focus from the ongoing immigration crisis on the border to the “origins” of the crisis in Central America. Although Vice President Kamala Harris, placed in charge of the border crisis, has yet to visit any of the border detention facilities housing thousands of child migrants captured at the border over the past several months, she announced that she will visit both Mexico and Guatemala on a listening tour.
Related: VP Harris Planning Trip To Mexico, Guatemala ‘To Deal With The Root Causes’ Of Border Crisis