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FILE – Guatemalans deported from the U.S. arrive at La Aurora airport in Guatemala City, Dec. 30, 2025, after deplaning a repatriation flight.<\/p>\n
Moises Castillo\/AP Photo\/Moises Castillo<\/p>\n
Journalists take images of a bus transporting migrants deported from the United States following their arrival at the Ram\u00f3n Villeda Morales Airport in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026.<\/p>\n
Delmer Martinez\/AP Photo\/Delmer Martinez<\/p>\n
Migrants deported from the United States are transported in a bus after arriving on plane at the Ramon Villeda Morales Airport in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026.<\/p>\n
Delmer Martinez\/AP Photo\/Delmer Martinez<\/p>\n
Migrants deported from the United States walk to a waiting bus after deplaning at the Ramon Villeda Morales Airport in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026.<\/p>\n
Delmer Martinez\/AP Photo\/Delmer Martinez<\/p>\n
GUATEMALA CITY (AP) \u2014 The United States has deported nearly 2,300 Mexicans to Guatemala this year and sent at least dozens more to Honduras, according to official data, a shift from the beginning of U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s second term when such transfers were minimal.<\/p>\n
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Until now, Mexicans deported from the United States were sent almost exclusively back to their country by air and land. Only a handful arrived in other countries.<\/p>\n
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Some civil organizations believe this change reported in recent days is a way to increase pressure on Mexico, whose government has protested the deaths of 17 Mexicans in immigration custody or during enforcement operations. This also comes as Trump has expanded agreements with allied Latin American countries to conduct joint operations in the region against criminal groups and has increased its security demands to Mexico.<\/p>\n
Sent to Central America by plane and Mexico by bus<\/p>\n
Guatemalan President Bernardo Ar\u00e9valo confirmed Wednesday night that, so far this year, 2,284 Mexicans deported from the U.S. have arrived in the country as part of a \u201ctransit stopover\u201d before being taken to Mexico as part of an \u201carrangement\u201d with the Mexican government, and without these individuals being under any refugee or asylum status.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThey are arriving on planes carrying Guatemalan returnees, and what we have done is bring them in transit so that, in coordination with Mexican immigration authorities, we can return them to Mexican territory within 24 hours of their arrival in the country,\u201d he explained at a press conference.<\/p>\n
The costs of these operations are covered by the Mexican government or, in some cases, by U.S. funding, he added.<\/p>\n
Mexico\u2019s National Migration Institute (INM) confirmed to The Associated Press in a brief message that Mexicans have been deported by the Trump administration to Guatemala and Honduras, primarily since April, and are then transported by bus to southern Mexico.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reason is that the United States wants to prevent them from crossing back into its territory,\u201d the institution said. The INM did not provide figures or further details.<\/p>\n
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Asked about why the Mexicans were sent to Central America and not their own country, and for more details, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration enforcement, said in an emailed statement that the administration \u201cis utilizing all lawful options to carry out the largest deportation operation in history, just as President Trump promised.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Mexican government has expressed its opposition to this practice to U.S. authorities and has reiterated that every Mexican citizen has the right to enter the country,\u201d the Mexican Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday. It added that Mexico is coordinating with the countries involved to ensure the safe return of Mexican citizens.<\/p>\n
Third-country deportations raise concerns for Mexican migrants<\/p>\n
Historically, Mexico has always been willing to receive its deported citizens.<\/p>\n
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Since Trump\u2019s first term, it has also accepted deportees from third countries, although the details of immigration agreements with Washington have usually been opaque. In 2025, Mexico received some 12,000 deported foreigners, mostly Cubans and Venezuelans, according to figures provided by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. The government has not updated these figures since December although the practice has continued.<\/p>\n
Authorities in Honduras also did not respond to requests for comment, but according to official documents from the country accessed by The Associated Press, 82 Mexicans deported from the United States arrived in the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula on two flights on August 13 and 15. An additional 35 arrived on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Another 165 Mexicans were deported to Honduras between May and mid-July, according to the website Third Country Deportation Watch, run by the NGOs Human Rights First and Refugees International, which track U.S. deportation flights to third countries.<\/p>\n
The website does not clarify the source of its nationality figures, but both organizations have expressed concern because these transfers could endanger migrants who possibly sought asylum in the U.S. or have few resources in an unknown country.<\/p>\n
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The deportation tactic \u201cseems to be to put pressure on the Mexican government,\u201d said Savitri Arvey of Human Rights First. \u201cThey really don\u2019t want any Mexicans crossing the border.\u201d Some of those deported arrived in Honduras on U.S. military flights, she added.<\/p>\n
A recent change in the deportation pattern<\/p>\n
At the beginning of his second term, with immigration control as one of his priorities, Trump reached agreements with Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama to act as \u201cbridge\u201d or destination countries for migrants from third countries expelled from U.S. territory. These agreements gradually expanded to more countries, including some African ones, most recently Liberia.<\/p>\n
Until recently, only a handful of Mexicans had been expelled from the U.S. to countries other than Mexico.<\/p>\n
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Ar\u00e9valo said on Wednesday that Guatemala received 15 Mexicans in 2025. As of February 2026, Honduras had officially reported the arrival of six. Costa Rica has received 11 Mexicans since Trump\u2019s return to the White House, and according to local immigration authorities, they remain in the country. Presumably, these individuals may have requested not to be returned to Mexico out of fear.<\/p>\n
Immigration lawyers believe that the Trump administration is using deportations to third countries as a legal loophole to indirectly force asylum seekers to return to Mexico when the government cannot send them there because it would violate court orders from immigration judges that recognize the dangers. Organizations and politicians both inside and outside the U.S. have also questioned the use of force by U.S. immigration authorities.<\/p>\n
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Verza reported from Mexico City and Gonz\u00e1lez from Tegucigalpa.<\/p>\n