House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the treatment of migrants in the US ‘shameful’ at a news conference in Guatemala City on Thursday.
“I will say, from what we have seen in past visits, the treatment of people there is a challenge to the conscience of America. Just seeing how people were treated, just undermines the character of who we are as a nation,” said Pelosi.
The House Speaker also commented on the US-Guatemala deal that was signed in July, which requires migrants passing through Guatemala to seek asylum there since it has been declared a ‘safe third country’.
“We have to see something in writing and I don’t think that this has been fleshed out in terms of what comes with that agreement. So we wait to see, because, as you know, it has very serious ramifications in the lives of individual people,” she said.
US Representative Norma Torres shared her view on the ‘safe third country’ agreement and said that Guatemala is not prepared to receive thousands of people back. Pelosi is on a trip to Central America with a bipartisan congressional delegation. The politicians will visit El Salvador and Honduras before heading to Mc Allen in Texas hosting a migrant processing camp.