Guatemala has received around 2,300 Mexicans deported from the United States so far this year, according to the Guatemalan government, offering fresh details on a Trump administration practice intended to deter migration but opposed by Mexico.
“They are arriving in planes of Guatemalan returnees,” Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo said in a televised interview late on Wednesday.
He said the deported Mexicans were transferred to their home country within 24 hours, with transportation costs covered by Mexico or the US.
Mexico’s foreign ministry said in a statement it opposed the practice and was working to repatriate citizens deported to Central America, without specifying the number of cases or costs.
“The government of Mexico has informed the US authorities of its rejection of this practice,” the ministry said.
The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Under international accords, deportees are usually sent directly to their country of citizenship.
Migrants may be sent to third countries if their home country rejects them or if the conditions are unsafe.
But under US President Donald Trump’s migration crackdown, more migrants are being deported to third countries, sometimes under bilateral agreements. Mexico has usually accepted US deportees directly.
Immigration experts said routing Mexicans through Guatemala or other countries may be intended to make illegal reentry to the US more difficult by moving them farther from the US-Mexico border.
While the US has historically prioritised deporting Mexicans by land to northern Mexico, Savi Arvey, director of policy at Human Rights First, said the US has since May “systematically” deported Mexicans to Honduras and Guatemala.
Human Rights First said it had confirmed the deportation of about 200 Mexicans to Honduras.
The Honduran government’s Attention to Returned Migrants Center told Reuters the centre had not received deported Mexican citizens and its foreign ministry said it had no information on the matter.
Deportee Arturo Trejo, in an interview with US Spanish-language TV channel Telemundo from his Mexican hometown, said he was among dozens of Mexicans flown from the US to Honduras before being returned to Mexico.
“They didn’t tell us anything, just to get on the flight,” Trejo said.
Ana Maria Mendez, Central America director at migrants rights group WOLA, said the rerouting tactic left migrants uncertain of their destination and whether their rights would be protected.
She pointed to similar reports of Nicaraguans being deported to Honduras.
“What we are seeing seems part of broader trend towards a very severe US migration policy where they seek to instill terror and fear in migrants at all costs,” she said.
&uuid=(email))