Pelosi leads delegation — including Amata — to Central America, Mexico border

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) - The speaker of the U.S. House, Nancy Pelosi, arrived in Guatemala with a congressional delegation Thursday, starting a Central American trip that seeks to explore the causes of immigration amid a crisis of migrants on the southern U.S. border.

Del. Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen of American Samoa is the only Republican in the 13-member delegation.

After meeting with government, church and non-governmental groups in Guatemala, the delegation will continue on to Honduras and El Salvador, as well as visiting migrant detention facilities in McAllen, Texas.

Pelosi’s office said in a statement that the trip is aimed at “helping empower the people of the Northern Triangle to build a better future at home.” The Northern Triangle refers to Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.

As if to illustrate the issue, just moments after her delegation arrived, more than 200 Guatemalans deported from the U.S. arrived on two separate planes. They are among the more than 34,600 Guatemalans deported so far this year.