Sat Oct 11 09:19:11 UTC 2025: **News Article:**
**Guatemala Receives First Deportation Flight Carrying Foreign Nationals Amid US Crackdown**
Guatemala City – Guatemala has received its first deportation flight from the United States carrying both Guatemalan and foreign immigrants, marking a significant development in President Donald Trump’s ongoing crackdown on immigration. The flight, which arrived on Friday, carried 56 Guatemalan nationals and three Hondurans, according to Guatemala’s IGM migration agency.
The Honduran passengers were processed at a migration center before being transferred to their home country. The Guatemalan government, under President Bernardo Arevalo, has affirmed its willingness to accept citizens from neighboring Central American nations deported by the US, signaling a continued commitment to strengthening ties with the Trump administration.
This agreement to receive increased deportation flights followed a recent visit from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Arevalo has even indicated a willingness to accept some non-citizens deported from the US.
While Guatemala has previously received deportation flights of its own citizens from the US as early as January, the inclusion of foreign nationals marks a new phase in the repatriation efforts.
This development unfolds against a backdrop of legal challenges to the Trump administration’s immigration policies. Last month, a US judge temporarily blocked the deportation of unaccompanied Guatemalan migrant children with pending immigration cases. Arevalo criticized this ruling, vowing to continue working on repatriating the children through a pilot program discussed with President Trump.
Trump’s immigration advisor, Stephen Miller, condemned the judge’s decision, signaling the administration’s determination to move forward with its broader deportation strategy.
Under the previous Joe Biden administration, Guatemala handled approximately 14 deportation flights daily. In fiscal year 2024, nearly 66,000 Guatemalans were deported from the US, marking a recent high, according to Reuters.
Curbing migration is a key priority for Trump’s second term. The administration has actively sought cooperation from Central American and Caribbean nations. While some Caribbean nations like the Bahamas, Grenada, and Turks and Caicos Islands rejected a December proposal to accept migrants from third countries, the US Supreme Court recently cleared the path for Trump to deport immigrants to countries other than their homeland, even if they claim they could face danger there. This policy has allowed the flight of mixed nationalities to Guatemala to proceed.
First Piper 