The tightening of immigration laws in the United States has not prevented thousands of Guatemalans from risking crossing the borders irregularly every day to improve the living conditions of their families. families.

And although since taking office, President Donald Trump has highlighted the plummeting number of border crossings and the record arrests made under his administration, the number of Guatemalans deported has decreased, with 39% fewer Guatemalan migrants returning to their country compared to last year, according to figures from the Guatemalan Migration Institute (IGM).

An estimated 3.6 million Guatemalan migrants reside in the United States alone, most of them undocumented, according to figures from the Consular Network in the US

Since taking office, the president has expanded the scope of his campaign promise of mass detentions and deportations, targeting not only criminals, but also migrant workers, certain student activists, and even tourists with visa problems.

However, despite the offensive against irregular migration launched by US President Donald Trump, Since taking office last January, US and Mexican immigration authorities deported 49,079 Guatemalans between January and November 2025, compared to 71,980 during the same period the previous year. Of the returned migrants, 42,878 arrived by air from various US cities, with October (6,161) and November (6,118) seeing the highest numbers of deportations. Of those returned to Guatemala in the first eleven months of 2025, 87.43% are men, and most of those who decide to travel to Mexico and the United States come from impoverished provinces of the country with predominantly indigenous populations. According to figures from the Guatemalan Migration Institute (IGM), 9,121 of the total returnees are from the northwestern department (province) of Huehuetenango and 6,718 from San Marcos (southwest), both bordering Mexico.

Of the total number of migrants returned to the Central American nation by both countries, 1,705 are minors. These figures contrast with those of 2024, when Guatemala ended the year with a total of 76,768 Guatemalans deported by US and Mexican immigration authorities (71,980 through November), according to official records. Of last year's total, 68,286 of those returned from the US were adults, 50,610 men and 1,676 women, with the remainder being minors. The number of deportations in 2024 was, however, lower than the 79,697 Guatemalan migrants returned to the United States and Mexico in 2023, among whom 16,273 were minors. Guatemalans and Mexicans are the main nationalities deported, with Guatemalans being the largest group deported from the United States and Mexico, and Mexicans the largest group. Mexicans primarily deported back to Mexico from the US

In February of this year, the president of Guatemala, Bernardo Arevalo de Leon, pledged to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to receive 30% more deportation flights.