Mexico objects as US sends 2,284 citizens through Guatemala in deportation drive

The Trump administration has sent about 2,284 Mexican nationals to Guatemala this year, turning the Central American country into a temporary transit point in Washington’s expanding deportation campaign and prompting objections from Mexico.

Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo confirmed that the Mexican nationals arrived on flights carrying Guatemalans deported from the United States. The Mexicans are then transferred to Mexico, generally within 24 hours of arriving in Guatemala.

“They are arriving on planes carrying Guatemalan returnees,” Arévalo said, explaining that Guatemala was coordinating with Mexico to ensure the deportees could continue their journey home.

The arrangement reflects a growing feature of the Trump administration’s immigration policy: using third countries to route deportees, including people who have no apparent connection to those countries.

For Mexico, the practice is particularly troubling because Washington already has established channels for returning Mexican citizens directly to Mexico. The Mexican foreign ministry said it had expressed its opposition to the US practice and reiterated that every Mexican citizen has the right to enter the country.

Mexico has nevertheless sought to maintain cooperation with Washington on migration and border security, forcing the government to walk a delicate line between working with the Trump administration and defending the rights of its citizens. Following talks with Guatemalan officials, Mexico stressed the two countries’ shared commitment to security and “human mobility with dignity.”

For Guatemala, the Mexican deportees are not intended to remain in the country. Arévalo said they are quickly transferred to Mexico, with the costs covered by either the United States or Mexico.

But Guatemala may be only one stop in a broader network of third-country deportations. Reports have also emerged of Mexican nationals being transported to Honduras.

One of them, Arturo Trejo, told Telemundo that he was given little information before being placed on a flight to Honduras.

“They didn’t tell us anything, just to get on the flight,” he said.

Mexico’s National Migration Institute said US authorities had justified the practice as a deterrent, arguing that routing deportees through third countries could discourage them from attempting to return to the United States.

The Trump administration has defended its wider deportation campaign as an effort to fulfil the president’s promise of carrying out what it describes as the largest deportation operation in US history. The Department of Homeland Security said it was using “all lawful options” to enforce the policy.

Human rights advocates, however, have criticised the use of third countries, warning that the practice can leave deportees in unfamiliar surroundings and separated from established support networks.

Ana María Méndez, Central America director at migrant rights organisation WOLA, told Reuters that the policy appeared to be part of a broader US approach aimed at instilling fear among migrants.

The dispute is unfolding against an already complicated backdrop in US-Mexico relations. The two countries are deeply intertwined economically, with bilateral trade reaching roughly $964.1 billion in 2025. Since Trump returned to the White House, however, migration has become one of the most sensitive issues between Washington and Mexico City.

Mexico has cooperated with the United States on immigration enforcement while simultaneously challenging policies it considers harmful to its citizens. Concerns have also grown over the treatment of Mexican nationals in US immigration custody, including allegations of excessive force during enforcement operations and deaths involving Mexicans held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

According to figures cited by Mexican officials, at least 15 Mexican nationals have died in ICE custody since Trump returned to office, while three others died during enforcement operations.

Mexico has filed complaints with US state prosecutors and criticised conditions in ICE detention facilities as “incompatible with human rights standards.” It has also called for regular access to detainees by Mexican consular officials.

The routing of Mexican citizens through Guatemala and Honduras adds a new fault line to Washington and Mexico City’s already delicate relationship. For the Trump administration, third-country deportations offer another instrument to deter irregular migration. For Mexico, they raise a more basic question: why send Mexican citizens through another country when Mexico is ready to receive them directly?

As Washington expands its deportation machinery, the journey home for some Mexican nationals is becoming longer and more uncertain — transforming a return across a shared border into a wider diplomatic flashpoint stretching from the United States through Central America to Mexico.

With agency inputs