A document called "Trump's Deportation List" made the rounds of WhatsApp today and while its authenticity is not confirmed, it is generating a lot of interest in Belize and across the region.
The document purports to be from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement known as ICE on Enforcement and Removal Operations and is dated November of 2024.
It enumerates how many orders of removal have been issued for illegal immigrants who are in the US and not detained - but could be deported pending the resolution of these matters. Those matters could be an asylum request or some other issue withholding removal. For Belize the figure is 899 persons - according to the document. This means Belizeans who could now likely lose their protected status under President Trump's immigration crackdown, and end up being deported. And while Belize has barely a thousand, by comparison, Guatemala has one quarter million persons in that status and Honduras has a little more.
We can also confirm that up to September 30th, 139 Belizeans had been removed from the US in 2024. Since November of 2024, Belize's Ambassador to the US has confirmed that the number of deportations has increased.
Under the new Trump program, ICE plans to arrest at least 1,875 undocumented migrants per day.
A document called "Trump's Deportation List" made the rounds of WhatsApp today and while its authenticity is not confirmed, it is generating a lot of interest in Belize and across the region.