The United States has expelled close to 2,300 Mexican nationals to Guatemala this year and sent a few dozen more to Honduras, as per official records. This marks a change from the early stages of U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term when such deportations were rare.
Previously, only a small number of Mexicans were deported from the U.S. to countries other than Mexico due to the non-refoulement principle in domestic immigration laws and international agreements. The principle prohibits sending migrants back to countries where their human rights, safety, or freedom may be at risk due to factors like race, religion, or nationality.
Mexico’s National Migration Institute (INM) confirmed that Mexicans have been deported by the Trump administration to Guatemala and Honduras, mainly since April, and then transferred by bus to southern Mexico.
The Mexican Foreign Ministry has voiced opposition to this practice to U.S. authorities, emphasizing that every Mexican citizen has the right to enter the U.S. The flow of migrants through Mexico and across the southern U.S. border has often strained relations between the two countries. In the Trump administration’s second term, the Mexican government protested the deaths of 17 Mexicans in U.S. immigration custody or enforcement operations.
Regarding the deportation of Mexicans to Central America instead of Mexico, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security stated that it is using all legal means to conduct the largest deportation operation in history, as promised by President Trump.
Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo confirmed that 2,284 deported Mexicans have transited through Guatemala this year before being taken to Mexico in an arrangement with the Mexican government, without refugee or asylum status. Similarly, official documents show that 82 Mexicans arrived in Honduras on flights in August, with more arriving subsequently.
Some 165 Mexicans were deported to Honduras between May and mid-July, as reported by the Third Country Deportation Watch website. Immigration lawyers believe that these deportations to third countries are a legal strategy to indirectly compel asylum seekers to return to Mexico.
At the beginning of Trump’s second term, agreements were reached with various countries to serve as transit points for migrants expelled from the U.S. Haiti recently saw its first deportations following a Supreme Court ruling allowing the termination of the Temporary Protected Status program for Haitians and Syrians.
The U.S. State Department emphasized its commitment to ending illegal immigration and enhancing border security, while activists raised concerns about the safety and resources available in Haiti for deportees. Liberia also received deportees from the U.S., including individuals from Africa, North America, South America, and the Caribbean, who could seek asylum in the country if desired.