Guatemala

Transfers of third country nationals began on October 10, 2025, when three Hondurans were transferred from the United States to Guatemala and from there to Honduras. These transfers seem to have occurred outside the parameters of an Asylum Cooperative Agreement (ACA) between the United States and Guatemala, which has not yet been implemented as of December 5.

In June 2025, the governments of Guatemala and the United States exchanged a series of diplomatic notes that culminated in a new bilateral agreement, signed by President Bernardo Arevalo of Guatemala on June 27, 2025. The agreement, which was published in the Federal Register on July 15, 2025, stipulates that Central American nationals may be transferred from the United States to Guatemala, where authorities would have the discretion to consider their requests for refugee status or temporary protection. The diplomatic notes emphasize that the agreement does not commit to disbursement or allocation of funds by either government.

President Arévalo stated that this is not a “safe third country agreement,” but rather an “exchange of notes” designed to facilitate the “dignified and safe return” of Guatemalans and Central Americans through Guatemala.

The diplomatic notes fail to provide assurances that Guatemala has sufficient capacity to provide effective protection and to prevent refoulement, posing the same risks as earlier U.S. efforts to externalize asylum obligations to Guatemala. In early 2020, Salvadorans and Hondurans transferred to Guatemala pursuant to a 2019 Asylum Cooperative Agreement between the United States and Guatemala were compelled to give up their claims and return to their home countries despite their fear of persecution there. The 2019 ACA was terminated in 2021 and a new agreement could require Congressional approval in Guatemala under the Guatemalan Constitution.

Based on the agreement with the Guatemalan government made in June 2025, the United States has been attempting to summarily cancel (“pretermit”) people’s pending asylum cases in U.S. immigration court without an opportunity to have their case considered. DHS has filed motions to pretermit people’s asylum cases in order to remove them to Guatemala under the agreement, subjecting them to the risk of removal without having their asylum cases decided.

U.S. law provides that asylum seekers cannot be sent to third countries for assessment of their asylum claims unless they would be safe from persecution and have access to full and fair asylum procedures. The legality of the current agreement between the United States and Guatemala has been challenged in U.S. federal court in U.T. v. Bondi, ongoing litigation contesting ACAs that were allegedly entered into under this provision of U.S. law. The lawsuit challenges the legality of several aspects of the ACAs, including a 2019 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) interim final rule (ratified by DHS in 2025) purporting to authorize the ACAs, DHS guidance implementing the ACAs, and designations finding that countries with which the United States has ACAs provide access to a “full and fair” asylum system. U.T. v. Bondi began as a challenge to ACAs during the first Trump administration as U.T. v. Barr. The 2025 arrangement does not address the flaws of the 2019 agreement with Guatemala, including insufficient infrastructure, inadequate safeguards, and heightened risks of unlawful returns. Implementation could pose even greater risks given the lack of public information about the nature of the agreement. 

People transferred under the agreement would face serious risks in Guatemala, where gender-based violence and extortion is endemic and humanitarian needs for migrants have increased because of foreign aid cuts. Human Rights Watch reportsthat Guatemala continues to struggle with institutional weaknesses in its justice system. Guatemala’s asylum system, though developing, remains fragile and backlogged. The new agreement risks overwhelming its nascent asylum system and placing vulnerable individuals in precarious circumstances. Only half of the small number of asylum seekers and refugees in Guatemala feel safe in their neighborhoods and only 13 percent reported secure housing. Documentation issued by the Civil Registry to provide legal status to asylum seekers and refugees is still not fully recognized by most Guatemalan institutions, hampering their access to services and work.