United States and Guatemala signed agreement diverting Central American migrants

The United States and Guatemala reached an agreement effected by an exchange of diplomatic notes on June 11 and 13, 2025, published by DHS in the Federal Register on July 15, 2025, stating the two governments' intent to "ensure the dignified, safe, and timely transfer of nationals of Central American countries to Guatemala." Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo publicly insisted the arrangement was not a "safe third country agreement" but rather an "exchange of notes" facilitating dignified return, and the notes themselves disclaim any commitment to disburse or allocate funds by either government.

Despite Guatemala's own framing, DHS attorneys have relied on the agreement to file motions in U.S. immigration court to summarily cancel — "pretermit" — pending asylum applications without a merits hearing, on the theory that Guatemala is an available destination. A similar 2019 agreement between the two countries was terminated in 2021 after asylum seekers transferred under it were compelled to abandon their claims and return to their home countries despite fearing persecution there; the 2025 arrangement does not address that agreement's documented flaws, including insufficient infrastructure and inadequate protection safeguards. Separately, most subsequent transfers of third-country nationals to Guatemala — including more than 1,500 Mexican nationals and hundreds of Hondurans and Nicaraguans — have occurred entirely outside this agreement's own parameters.