Trump ‘Cannot Force Us’ To Accept Every Deportee: Belize

The prime minister of Belize has reacted to President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed mass deportation policy by saying the U.S. “cannot force” countries to accept deportees from other nations.

Prime Minister John Briceno said that his country will not act as a third country for people expelled by the U.S, particularly from Venezuela, Haiti, and Nicaragua. He added that he would “welcome” any Belizean nationals if they are forced to return to the country.

Newsweek has contacted the incoming Trump administration for comment via email outside of normal office hours.

Why It Matters

President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to carry out the largest mass deportations operation in U.S. history, and South and Central American countries are formulating their responses to the policy. So far three nations have each responded differently. Honduras has said it is opposed to mass deportation of its citizens, Guatemala has said it would consider taking deportees from other countries, and now Belize has said it will only accept its own nationals.

Briceno’s statement came in response to reports that the incoming Trump administration is seeking to arrange deportations of migrants to third-party countries as part of its mass deportations strategy.

Trump will need to negotiate agreements with other countries to facilitate deportation flights. Belize has made it clear that it will not be pressured into accepting non-nationals under Trump’s plan, while affirming its willingness to welcome back Belizean citizens.

According to the Migration Policy Institute, there are 47,000 immigrants from Belize currently residing in the U.S.

While neighboring Guatemala has shown indications of willingness to cooperate with the U.S. and potentially accept non-nationals, according to Reuters, Belize has made it clear that it will not.

Belize’s position also contrasts with that of Honduras, which is unwilling to accept a mass deportation of its nationals.

Honduras has threatened to shut down rent-free U.S. military bases if Trump attempts to send back Hondurans. President, Xiomara Castro, said officials would consider “a change in our policies of cooperation with the United States, especially in the military arena,” in the face of “unnecessary reprisals against our migrants.”

According to data from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), at least 261,000 Hondurans are currently waiting to be deported from the U.S, making them the largest group pending removal, ahead of people from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Mexico.

What People Are Saying

John Briceno, prime minister of Belize: “We are a sovereign nation, and they cannot force us to accept people that are not citizens of this country, and as far as I am concerned, we are not going to accept any citizen that is not Belizean. Any Belizean that they send back, we welcome them. We need workers, so we don’t have a problem with that.

Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council previously told Newsweek: “The most crucial thing for people to understand about deportations is that, as they exist in an international legal framework, they are bilateral. Each country has to agree on a deportation. Any country has the sovereign right to refuse a deportation flight from a foreign country.”

Brian Hughes, Trump-Vance Transition Spokesman, previously told Newsweek in a statement: “The Trump Administration looks forward to engaging our Latin American partners to ensure our southern border is secure and illegal immigrants can be returned to their country of origin.”

President Xiomara Castro said in a statement on New Year’s Day: “Faced with a hostile attitude of mass expulsion of our brothers, we would have to consider a change in our policies of cooperation with the United States, especially in the military arena, where, without paying a cent for decades, they maintain military bases in our territory, which in this case would lose all reason to exist in Honduras.”

What Happens Next

Trump will return to the White House on January 20 and is anticipated to sign a series of executive orders to address illegal immigration and border security.

The president-elect has consistently vowed to deploy the National Guard to implement his mass deportation strategy, along with plans to shut down the CBP One app, end the catch-and-release policy, and reinstate the “Remain in Mexico” program as part of his strict immigration agenda.