Virus fear turns deportees into pariahs at home in Guatemala

The Associated Press ^ | May 4, 2020 | By SONIA PÉREZ D

[Oldeconomybuyer]

GUATEMALA CITY - Migrants returning from the United States were once considered heroes in Guatemala, where the money they send back to their hometowns is a mainstay of the economy.

But since the coronavirus pandemic hit, migrants in town after town have been mistreated, run off or threatened by neighbors who fear they will bring the virus back with them from the United States.

Vanessa Díaz said her mother heard rumors that neighbors were organizing to keep her from reaching her home in the northern province of Petén after she was deported back to Guatemala on a flight from the United States.

Díaz had to run inside with her 7-year-old son and hide when she arrived.

“When we arrived my mother said, ‘Get out of the car and run into the house.’ She was afraid they were going to do something to us,” Díaz recalled.

The fear hasn’t subsided; Díaz’s mother must shop for food for them all, because her daughter doesn’t dare venture out. The mother has filed a complaint with police, because she’s afraid neighbors might yet attack the house.

“I am afraid. The police came to the house and left their phone number, so we can call them” if there’s any trouble, Diaz said. But reason and the threat of legal action appear to mean little. “I have a document that says I do not have the disease,” Díaz said, referring to a letter given to her by the Public Health Ministry when she was sent home to self-quarantine.

Díaz left Guatemala on Feb. 14 and was caught entering the U.S. two weeks later. She and her son spent more than a month in detention in Texas before they were deported.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Deported Guatemalan Vanessa Diaz, 28, looks toward her family as she picks up the food they brought her, at the site where Guatemalans returned from the U.S. are being held in quarantine for two weeks near the airport in Guatemala City, Friday, April 17, 2020. After Diaz was free to go home after testing negative for COVID-19, her mother heard rumors that neighbors were organizing to keep her from reaching her home in the northern province of Petén, and she doesn’t dare venture out. The mother has filed a complaint with police, because she’s afraid neighbors might yet attack the house.

[a fool in paradise]

xenophobes

[Vigilanteman]

So now they have a new excuse to claim asylum and suckle off the U.S. taxpayer teat. What’s not to like about that?

[a fool in paradise]

>>Vanessa Díaz said her mother heard rumors that neighbors were organizing to keep her from reaching her home in the northern province of Petén after she was deported back to Guatemala on a flight from the United States.

Guatemalans against open borders

[a fool in paradise]

#BrokenFamiliesLivesMatter

[Darksheare]

How raciss of Guatemala.

[RWGinger]

Gosh let me think. Do I care that a person who thought it was ok to break our laws is getting rough treatment.
Let me think hmmmmm
NOPE not for a second

[Lurkinanloomin]

Deport them ALL.

ALL ILLEGAL ALIENS, no exceptions.

[Mr. Rabbit]

No s***s given.
The welfugees can stay home.

[Reily]

Don’t care!

[njslim]

Should have never left ……..

[WWG1WWA]

Not our problem.

[Pollster1]

The solution is simple. Deport the rest of these criminals, and they can quarantine together at home as AP accurately describes their location.

[RealVirginia]

All cultures are not equal. That’s why we don’t need to import people from these kinds of cultures.