REFILE: Last 2025 deportation flights land in Guatemala

Guatemala will close 2025 with roughly 55,000 nationals deported from the United States and Mexico, marking a 23% decrease from the 76,000 deported in 2024, according to Maria del Mar Mazariegos, spokesperson for the Guatemalan Migration Institute, on Tuesday (December 30) as the final deportation flights of the year arrived.

Mazariegos said that of the nearly 55,000 returned nationals, about 48,000 were sent by the U.S., while the remainder came from Mexico.

Deportees completed registration procedures and collected their personal belongings at the Returnee Reception Center in Guatemala City upon arrival.

One deportee, Marvin Guillermo Orozco Maldonado, shared his experience of being detained in the U.S. He recalled, “They detained me at a laundromat while I was washing clothes. The officers asked if I had U.S. documents. I said no, and they told me, ‘We’re sorry, but you’re under arrest.’”

Since taking office on January 20, President Donald Trump has increased the number of migrants the U.S. deports to Latin America, including the use of military planes for repatriation flights.

-Production: Josue Decavele, Dessire Carrion, Gloria Lopez/Reuters