2,300 Mexicans deported from US passed through Guatemala in 2026

Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo said in an interview aired late on Wednesday that about 2,300 Mexicans deported from the US had been flown to Guatemala so far in 2026 alongside returning Guatemalans, but remained in that country for less than 24 hours before being transferred to Mexico.

Arevalo said the migrants entered Guatemala only in transit, staying for less than 24 hours, and were not housed or granted refuge there. Guatemala does not serve as a so-called “safe third country”, he noted.

“They are arriving in planes of Guatemalan returnees, and what we have done is process them as in transit, in co-ordination with the Mexican immigration authorities,” Arevalo said.

The Trump administration had been sending Mexicans to Guatemala and Honduras in an effort to deter illegal migration to the US, CBS reported earlier this week.

Neither Mexico’s nor Honduras’ foreign ministries immediately responded to requests for comment. Mexican authorities had previously told CBS that they rejected the deportation of Mexicans to “third countries” and had not made any such agreements.

US President Donald Trump won re-election in 2024 vowing to clamp down on illegal border crossings and mass deport people deemed to be staying in the US illegally. Many have been deported through agreements with third countries in the Americas.