Why the US Is Deporting Mexican Nationals Through Guatemala and Honduras

The United States has sent roughly 2,300 Mexican nationals to Guatemala in 2026, overriding formal objections from the Mexican government, as part of President Donald Trump's escalated deportation operations. Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo confirmed that Guatemala received about 2,284 Mexican nationals deported from the US this year. CBS News first reported on August 19 that the Trump administration had been quietly deporting migrants from Mexico to Honduras and Guatemala despite Mexican objections, and Reuters, datelined Guatemala City, corroborated the figures on August 20.

The practice routes Mexican deportees through third countries rather than returning them directly to Mexico. Some Mexican nationals have also been transported to Honduras. Mexican deportee Arturo Trejo told Telemundo he was not told anything except to get on the flight. The exact number sent to Honduras has not been specified beyond "at least dozens."

A "third-country deportation" means that instead of sending someone back to their home country, the deporting nation sends them through a different country first. In this case, the US is sending Mexican citizens to Guatemala or Honduras before they eventually reach Mexico. Arevalo said the deported Mexican nationals are brought through Guatemala in transit and returned to Mexican territory within 24 hours of their arrival, in coordination with the Mexican government. Guatemala thus functions as a short-term waypoint, not a permanent destination. But the routing itself is the source of friction.

Mexico's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Mexican government expressed its opposition to the third-country deportation practice to US authorities and reiterated that every Mexican citizen has the right to enter Mexico. The Mexican government's position is that its nationals should be returned directly to Mexico, not processed through a third country.

The US justification, as relayed by Mexico's National Migration Institute to the Associated Press, is deterrence. The US told Mexican authorities that third-country deportations of Mexicans are intended to prevent them from crossing back into US territory. The Department of Homeland Security said it was utilising all lawful options to carry out the largest deportation operation in history, as President Trump promised.

The legal framework behind these transfers may involve what are called Safe Third Country Agreements, also known as Asylum Cooperative Agreements. The DHS Office of Homeland Security Statistics defines these as agreements designating a safe third country for processing asylum claims. Whether the current transfers of Mexican nationals to Guatemala and Honduras are being carried out under such a formal agreement or through informal operational arrangements has not been clarified in public statements.

DHS has previously disputed specific third-country deportation claims. In a July 2025 news release, the department stated that ICE never arrested or deported Luis Leon to Guatemala, pushing back on media reporting about an Allentown grandfather. That denial points to the politically sensitive nature of third-country transfers, which have drawn scrutiny even when they involve nationals of the receiving country rather than Mexican citizens routed through it.

The broader enforcement environment is expansive. DHS announced in May 2025 that individuals who self-deport using the CBP Home App receive a $1,000 stipend paid after their return to their home country. In late July 2026, DHS reported the deportation of Guatemalan national Abin Lester Cordova-Rodriguez following a criminal conviction. ICE's historical removal data shows that Mexican nationals have consistently constituted the majority of US removals, accounting for 56 percent in fiscal year 2014 and 62 percent in fiscal year 2015, with Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador rounding out the leading countries of origin.

The bilateral stakes extend well beyond migration enforcement. The US and Mexico are top trading partners, with cross-border exchange of roughly $964.1 billion in 2025. The deportation dispute adds a layer of tension to a relationship already stress-tested by trade negotiations, tariff threats, and border security debates.

Ana Maria Mendez, Central America director at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), told Reuters that the third-country deportations of Mexicans appear part of a broader trend toward a very severe US migration policy seeking to instill terror and fear in migrants. That characterization frames the policy not as a logistical adjustment but as an instrument of psychological deterrence.

The structural question is whether third-country routing of Mexican nationals can be sustained as a routine practice against explicit Mexican objection. Mexico has diplomatic tools at its disposal, and the $964 billion trade relationship gives it leverage that smaller sending or receiving states lack. Arevalo's confirmation that his government is coordinating the transit return of Mexicans within 24 hours suggests Guatemala is managing the situation cooperatively on the ground, even as Mexico protests the policy at the diplomatic level. The gap between operational cooperation and political objection may be where this dispute lives for the foreseeable future.