ABSTRACT
This study exams the influence of the Trump administration on the Mexico-Guatemala border region, with a focus on migration and security. It was written when the United States and Mexico were negotiating Mexico’s response to Central American migrant caravans.
The next step was for President Trump to threaten Mexican trade with the US, and Mexico agreed to send its National Guard to this border to deter migrant crossing. This chapter should be read as a snapshot of the period before that central shift.
US aid and training programs take years to develop, no less implement; this study provides a limited assessment of Trump’s policies and a greater assessment of how the US relates to this border. Washington considers the Mexico-Guatemala border region as a first line of defense in addressing problems that could reach the US, such as large migrant flows and drug trafficking.
To deter migration, the US invests economic aid in the Northern Highlands of Guatemala; it supports Mexico’s refugee programs for asylum seekers before reaching the United States, and it invests in security infrastructure to keep a check on illicit activity.
