Guatemala is open to receiving citizens of other Central American nations who are deported from the U.S., three sources familiar with the matter said, as the country looks to build a positive relationship with the incoming Trump administration.
“There has to be a regional response,” a Guatemalan official who requested anonymity told Reuters. “And we want to be part of the solution.”
The U.S. has struggled to deport nationals from places such as Nicaragua, Venezuela and Haiti due to strained relations. That could prove a challenge for President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed to deport record numbers of immigrants living in the United States illegally.
His team has already reached out to the governments of several countries to test their willingness to take deportees from third countries.
Many U.S. neighbors, including Mexico and the Bahamas, have said they do not want to receive deportees from third countries.
In 2022, more than 40% of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally came from Mexico, amounting to 4.8 million of 11 million overall, according to a U.S. Department of Homeland Security report. That was followed by Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, which together accounted for over one-fifth of the total.
Guatemala has been particularly proactive in preparing for a second Trump term relative to neighbors El Salvador and Honduras, meeting with Trump transition team members, Sen. Marco Rubio before he was tapped for secretary of state and the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank, about migration and mass deportations, border security, drug trafficking and China.
All three countries, along with a Nicaraguan government that has the most openly hostile relationship with the U.S., face a moment of reckoning, both in handling Trump’s demand they accept deportees and in a potential curtailing of remittances from immigrants in the U.S., which are a major contributor to their economies.
The Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Seeking a smooth start with Trump
The Guatemala-U.S. meetings signal the center-left government of President Bernard Arevalo, a Biden administration ally, wants to start on smooth terms with the Trump administration, despite ties between Guatemala’s conservative opposition and many in the president-elect’s orbit. Trump’s inauguration will happen on Jan. 20.
El Salvador, whose populist President Nayib Bukele already has cozy ties with the Trump camp, has taken a less proactive approach. But a source close to discussions between Salvadoran officials and the transition team said the Trump administration foresees smooth cooperation with El Salvador on immigration.
The Guatemalan official noted the country already receives 14 deportation flights per week under President Joe Biden and is preparing for an increase.
Honduras’ Deputy Foreign Minister Antonio Garcia told Reuters the country receives 10 deportation flights a week. Reuters was not able to confirm the number of deportation flights to other Central American countries.
