Editor's note: On July 26, President Donald Trump announced a “safe third country asylum” deal with Guatemala, forcing migrants passing through to claim asylum there instead of in the U.S. Previously, he threatened to impose a travel ban on Guatemalans.
HUEHUETENANGO, GUATEMALAAgustín Gómez was struggling under a mountain of debt when he decided to leave his minuscule village in the misty highlands of Guatemala and take his 8-year-old son, Felipe, to America late last year. Ten days later, after crossing into Texas, Felipe fell sick with the flu and a bacterial infection. He was taken to a New Mexico hospital, and died shortly after being released. It was Christmas Eve.
Back in Guatemala, Felipe’s 22-year-old half-sister Catarina comforted her sobbing father over the phone and cooked hundreds of tortillas for the wake. “I’m glad you guys are together so you can mourn,” Agustín told her. “I’m all alone here.” As the news broke around the world, she watched the social
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