Facing deportation or returning to Guatemala

You and your family may have to return to Guatemala, either voluntarily or due to deportation. If you face this possibility, plan ahead so that the process can be as simple and safe as possible for you and your family.

Breathe. Know that your family and community are holding you in their thoughts and prayers and it is your own inner strength that will get you through this difficult transition. Take good care. 

Download and print a wallet card version of this resource.

Consider using the emergency notification app called Notifica to keep your family informed and aware. Many people use WhatsApp to communicate internationally (you need Wifi to use it).

• While in GEO ICE Processing Center in Aurora, Colorado:
  • Family/friends may visit you if they have a valid passport or unmarked license. They should call GEO (303-361-6612) to get your visiting days and hours and instructions for visiting.
  • Family/friends can put money on your phone account at www.talton.com or 1-866-348-6231 using the detainee’s A#.
• Leaving GEO in Aurora, Colorado:
  • You have the right to retrieve any clothing or possessions that you entered GEO with, such as your wallet, credit cards, and phone. Family/friends can also bring you “one of everything,” i.e. one pair of pants, underwear, bra, socks, shoes, one short-sleeve shirt, one long-sleeve shirt, coat, gloves, and hat.
  • If you have medicine approved and given by a GEO doctor, you can take it with you. This includes insulin and inhalers. If you can bring a written prescription from a doctor, that can be helpful.
  • If you can bring a credit card or between $200 to $500 in small bills, it will be helpful. Put the money in different pockets on your person, not in your bag. If you have money on account from the commissary, phone, or work, you will be given up to $500 in cash. If you have more than $500, you will receive a check, which can be hard to cash later.
  • Detainees are not given much advance notice of their departure date to avoid “incidents” during transport.

NOTE: This is how it is supposed to happen, but be prepared that you may not be able to bring all of these things.

WHAT TO BRING WITH YOU

The following items can often be brought by family/friends to GEO. They must bring a photo ID to drop off items:

• Phone numbers for friends or family, both in Guatemala and in the U.S. (You should memorize them before leaving the U.S.).
• Phone card, phone charger, and a backup phone battery.
• Have an address in Guatemala. Many forms and job applications often ask for an address. Get an address of a family member that you can use.
• Medications and written prescriptions in your name, such as insulin; what you need to keep it cool; inhalers. If you are diabetic, you may be able to bring a PowerBar or something similar.
• Driver’s license or ID from any Guatemalan city or institution, like a voting card.

General Cautions:

• To stay safe, make a friend on the bus or plane. Stay together to support each other.
• Be alert and calm. Blend in and comply with authority.
• Avoid casual street encounters, including eye contact.
• Don’t look vulnerable, but also don’t look cocky.
• Be prepared for bribes. Have $40 to $100 in cash in $10s and $20s, and keep them in different pockets.
• Beware of criminal elements. Don’t use an offered cell phone to call your family. Create a “palabra clave” or code word with family members in case someone calls asking for ransom. You should decide what you want your family to do if you are speaking to them under duress.
• Keep contact information for your family in El Salvador (and all documents that prove your identity and deportation status) on you, not in your bag.

Cautions for Guatemala

• Keep your money/valuables as secure as possible.
• Avoid public ATMs, where credit card scams tend to happen.
• Conceal valuable items such as smartphones.
• Be careful when walking in Guatemala City and on buses, which are frequently subject to armed robberies.
• Understand that members of MS-13 and Calle 18 gangs and Mexican drug trafficking organizations operate throughout Guatemala.

Repatriation 

People are transported to Guatemala from several detention centers in the U.S. Those deported from Denver generally depart on flights from Florence, Arizona. They arrive at the La Aurora Air Force base next to the La Aurora International Airport in Guatemala City.

When deportees, both adults and minors, arrive in the Salón Migratorio at the Air Force Base, they are given refreshments and are officially received by representatives of Dirección General de Migración (General Agency on Migration, DGM).

ADULTS

Adults get a free phone call and can exchange currency. After, they are taken to the bus terminal and are given a bus ticket to their hometown.

Representatives from the Pastoral de Movilidad Humana may be at the airport to meet returnees. They can arrange transportation to Casa del Migrante, which provides services to returnees. Representatives from the Association of Returned Guatemalans (ARG) may also be at the airport. See descriptions below.

UNACCOMPANIED CHILDREN

Unaccompanied children are briefly interviewed by Secretaría de Bienestar (SBS) staff. After, they are taken to Nuestras Raíces in Guatemala City, where they. are given something to eat, a basic medical examination, and a clean change of clothes. A psychologist and social worker are there to conduct interviews to determine if there is a case (of abuse, trafficking, etc.) that needs to be referred to another agency. If this is the case, the case is reported to the Procudaría General de la Nación (PGN) of Guatemala, which contacts the proper agency.

(Source: “The Realities of Returning Home: Youth Repatriation in Guatemala,” The Wilson Center, June 2015)