2,300 Mexicans Deported To Guatemala As Trump Expands Third-Country Strategy

The US has launched a new deportation policy. The Donald Trump administration implemented a programme to deport migrants, including Mexican nationals, to third countries in Central America. The Washington Post on Thursday (local time) detailed the operationalisation of these deportation flights.

Under new bilateral arrangements, Washington designated Guatemala and Honduras as the primary receiving nations for these individuals. The United States has deported nearly 2,300 Mexican citizens to Guatemala this year and sent dozens more to Honduras before they were transported back to Mexico, marking a sharp expansion of the Trump administration’s use of third countries in its deportation strategy.

The move marks a major shift in border enforcement. It effectively forces asylum seekers to find refuge in nations they merely transit through.

Why Are Mexicans Being Sent To Guatemala And Honduras?

US officials are applying intense diplomatic pressure. They are pushing Central American governments to accept deportees who are not their own citizens. Local non-governmental organisations in Guatemala City raised immediate concerns regarding the policy. They highlighted a severe lack of shelter and processing infrastructure needed to accommodate non-Guatemalan deportees.

Until recently, Mexican nationals deported from the US were returned almost entirely to Mexico by air or land, with only a small number being transferred to other countries.

Some civil society groups view the recent shift as an attempt to put greater pressure on Mexico, whose government has raised concerns over the deaths of 17 Mexican citizens while in immigration custody or during enforcement operations. The development comes as Trump has broadened agreements with allied Latin American nations to carry out joint operations against criminal groups in the region and has stepped up security-related demands on Mexico.

What Does Trump’s Third-Country Deportation Policy Mean?

Mexico has traditionally accepted its own citizens after they are deported. Since Trump’s first presidency, the country has also taken in deportees from other nations, although the specific terms of its immigration arrangements with Washington have generally remained unclear.

In 2025, Mexico received around 12,000 deported foreign nationals, primarily from Cuba and Venezuela, according to figures released by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. The Mexican government has not provided updated figures since December, despite the practice continuing, as per Washington Post.

According to official documents from the country accessed by The Associated Press, 82 Mexicans deported from the United States arrived in the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula on two flights on August 13 and 15. An additional 35 arrived on Thursday.

At the start of his second term, Trump made immigration enforcement a key priority and reached agreements with Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama to serve as “bridge” or destination countries for migrants expelled from the US to countries other than their own. The network of such agreements was later expanded to additional nations, including countries in Africa, with Liberia being the latest addition.