The indigenous Maya towns are currently despising returned migrants, along with a threat to some, of lynching or burning their homes as fear spread about over 100 deportees from the United States found positive for COVID-19.

In one of the cities in the highlands of Guatemala, home to a large population of indigenous people, residents attempted to burn down the shelter of a migrant. 

Then, in some villages, residents rejected those who recently returned and threatened the deportees' relatives with eviction from their respective homes.

Presently, the health officials of Guatemala have said that almost one-fifth of the 585 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Central American nation can be detected in those who deported from the US, with most of them, two flights in one day.

A Migrant's Story

19-year-old Carlos Cumes, whose so-called "American dream" ended several weeks back with his deportation recently, saw his luck sour once more when he went back to the Santa Catarina Palopo village, with a hope of reuniting with his family.

As he walked the final stretch to his parents' home, an angry group of residents confronted the young migrant. The said locals saw the televised footage of Cumes being transported to the village via an ambulance earlier that day.

He received insults, not to mention, accused of bringing infection with him even if he had undergone medical observation for four days in the capital and carried a document from the health ministry declaring him symptom-free of COVID-19.

However, none of that alleviated the locals' worst fears. Cumes said, they even threatened to set his family on fire, adding, he was "really afraid and I could only think about leaving the villages" in order for him not to bring any other trouble.

Some Migrants Tested Positive for COVID-19 Confirmed

President Alejandro Giammattei confirmed that more than 100 Guatemalans deported from the US have tested positive for COVID-19, and this, he added, has raised popular concern and hot-blooded mood in the underprivileged highlands, most migrants' home.

Until recently, Guatemalans had always looked up to migrants due, partly to the essential remittances they send to many families here. Fear of them, though, has considerably grown in just a short period.

Just a few months back, according to President Giammattei, most Guatemalans were so happy with migrants because of the remittance checks they bring in. But now, he continued, they are treated like criminals.

Incidentally, the US Immigration and Enforcement Agency or ICE recently said, deportees were screened before the flights for symptoms and high temperatures linked to COVID-19. 

Nonetheless, migrants returned by the US to Mexico, Jamaica, Colombia, and Haiti have also tested positive for the virus in the previous weeks, fostering broader worries over the deportation programs. 

Meanwhile, the US has sent three "humanitarian" flights that carried children since Guatemala implemented its ban as the countries of Central America are under pressure from the Trump administration to continue receiving flights.

Specifically, a flight with 89 Guatemalans, with a dozen of them minors, returned to Guatemala on April 30, the Guatemalan government said. 

Also, a spokesman from ICE said all passengers had undergone the COVID-19 test before their removal, and all test results went negative.

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