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The United States has quietly expanded the deportation of Mexican migrants to Guatemala and Honduras. The transfers send people to countries where many have no legal status, family connections or previous residence.
Some removals have occurred outside publicly disclosed asylum agreements, according to immigration rights organizations. The practice forms part of the Trump administration’s broader use of third-country deportations.
Mexican Migrants Deported to Guatemala and Honduras
At least 1,569 Mexican nationals were sent from the United States to Guatemala through mid-July 2026, according to Third Country Deportation Watch. The monitoring project is operated by Refugees International and Human Rights First.
Regular transfers of Mexicans to Guatemala reportedly began during spring 2026. However, no specific public agreement covering those removals has been identified.
Honduras also began receiving Mexican deportees in May or June. The monitoring group documented 165 Mexican nationals sent there through July. It reported that another 37 arrived by mid-August.
The figures indicate that more than 1,700 Mexicans were sent to the two Central American countries within several months. U.S. authorities have released little public information about individual flights or the deportees.
How Third-Country Deportations Work
A third-country deportation sends a migrant somewhere other than the person’s country of citizenship. The receiving nation must agree to accept the individual.
The United States has signed Asylum Cooperative Agreements with several governments. These agreements can prevent migrants from pursuing asylum in the United States. Instead, they may be directed to seek protection in another participating country.
The U.S.-Honduras agreement allows Honduras to receive certain Spanish-speaking migrants from Latin America. It initially established a limit of 10 people per month for two years. Honduras can accept additional deportees at its discretion.
Guatemala’s 2025 arrangement applied to Central American nationals. President Bernardo Arévalo described it as a system supporting safe returns rather than a traditional safe-third-country agreement.
Advocacy groups say many Mexican transfers appear to fall outside those arrangements. Guatemala reportedly processes some deportees and quickly returns them to their home countries. This practice is sometimes called a chain deportation.
U.S. Government Defends Asylum Agreements
The Department of Homeland Security has defended third-country agreements as legal arrangements between governments. DHS says they allow migrants to pursue protection in countries that have agreed to review their cases.
The agency also argues that the policy helps address an immigration court backlog of roughly 2 million asylum cases. DHS has not publicly explained the recent increase in Mexican transfers to Guatemala and Honduras.
More than 13,000 migrants of various nationalities received third-country removal orders after their asylum cases were canceled. However, the number physically deported under formal asylum agreements remains much lower.
Court data analyzed by Mobile Pathways identified 237 Mexicans designated for possible removal to Guatemala. Another 1,508 Mexican asylum cases carried Honduras designations through June.
Legal and Human Rights Questions Remain
Federal law permits safe-third-country arrangements only when migrants can avoid persecution and access a full and fair asylum process. Civil rights organizations are challenging several agreements in federal court.
Critics argue that migrants may receive limited notice about their destination. They also question whether Guatemala and Honduras have enough resources to evaluate additional asylum claims.
The transfers remain difficult to track because governments publish limited data about the passengers and their legal cases. For Latino communities, greater transparency will be essential as third-country deportations continue to reshape the U.S. immigration system.