While Mr Trump’s dreams of a ‘big, beautiful wall’ along the Mexican border have largely failed to materialise, he has relied heavily on deal-making to deliver one of his main campaign promises https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/10/15/trumps-wall-us-president-quietly-won-war-migration/

"A notable success has been a deal with Guatemala that designates the state as a so-called safe third country for people fleeing persecution.

It requires migrants on their way to the US to apply for protections in Guatemala first, or face deportation back there"

Since the first flights in November last year, the US has deported more than 1,000 Honduran and Salvadoran asylum seekers to Guatemala

Sofia was one of them.

She fled San Pedro Sula, one of the most dangerous cities in the world, after her brother was killed by a gang.

Sofia travelled more than two thousand miles, mostly on foot, in the hope of reaching America.

This was her journey

“'Safe in Guatemala? What’s safe about that place? It’s the same as Honduras. I had to come home. It’s dangerous for me here, but at least I have friends who can help me” - Sofia

Trump’s ‘safe third country’ agreement echos the European Union's 2016 deal with Turkey which aimed to stem the flow of migrants fleeing Syria.

But while Turkey received cash handouts, Guatemala avoided threats including aid cuts and increased tariffs.

Critics call it blackmail

It is this style of diplomacy, which has frayed relations across Latin America.

One senior Colombian diplomat said the continent’s relations with the US are on “life support”

The US has a “zero tolerance” policy on migrants crossing illegally.

Leaked pictures showed children locked in ‘cages’ without family members.

Melania Trump exacerbated the crisis when she arrived at the border wearing a jacket which read: "I really don't care, do you?"

Thousands of asylum seekers became trapped on Mexico’s side of the border.

The policy led to more desperate attempts to illegally cross into the US.

An image of the lifeless bodies of Oscar Ramires and his 2-year-old daughter on the banks of the Rio Grande shocked the world

Last week, Washington pledged to admit a record low of no more than 15,000 refugees over the coming year

“To pretend that Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador are safe is divorced from reality," says @KarenMusalo, director of @CGRShastings

Trump’s position on Venezuela and Cuba has also divided Latin America. Financial sanctions have been imposed on both countries, with Washington abandoning the policy of engagement with Cuba advanced during the Obama Administration

Do you agree with President Trump's migration policies?