The flight transported three Honduran nationals alongside 56 Guatemalans, as reported by Guatemala’s General Migration Institute (IGM).
Published On 11 Oct 2025
Guatemala has recently welcomed its inaugural deportation flight from the United States that included both Guatemalan citizens and foreign nationals, according to the country’s migration authority. This development comes amid the Trump administration‘s intensified crackdown on immigration.
The aircraft touched down on Friday, carrying 56 Guatemalans and three Hondurans. Upon arrival, the Honduran individuals were processed at a migration facility before being repatriated to Honduras, as confirmed by Guatemala’s IGM.
Guatemala’s government has expressed willingness to accept deportees not only from its own population but also from neighboring Central American countries, signaling an effort to maintain cooperative relations with the Trump administration.
Earlier this year, following a visit from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, President Bernardo Arevalo’s administration agreed to increase the frequency of deportation flights. Arevalo has also conveyed Guatemala’s readiness to receive certain non-citizen deportees from the US.
It is important to note that Guatemala has previously received deportation flights under the current US administration, with repatriations dating back to January. However, last month, a US federal judge temporarily halted the deportation of Guatemalan unaccompanied minors who have active immigration proceedings, allowing them to remain in federal custody while their asylum claims are adjudicated.
President Arevalo criticized this judicial decision, affirming his commitment to repatriate these children through a pilot program negotiated with the Trump administration. Meanwhile, White House immigration advisor Stephen Miller publicly denounced the court ruling as the administration continues to advance its broader deportation agenda.
During the Biden administration, Guatemala managed approximately 14 deportation flights daily. Reuters reports that nearly 66,000 Guatemalans were deported from the US in fiscal year 2024, marking a recent peak in repatriations.
Immigration control remains a central focus of President Trump’s second term, with his administration urging Central American and Caribbean nations to collaborate on deportation efforts. In December, Trump proposed that several Caribbean countries-including the Bahamas, Grenada, and the Turks and Caicos Islands-accept migrants from third countries, but these governments declined the offer.
In a significant legal development in June, the US Supreme Court authorized the Trump administration to resume deportations to countries other than the migrants’ countries of origin, even when those individuals claim they face potential harm there.
