U.S. Deportees on Their Return to Guatemala

The United States is conducting immigration raids in cities such as Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and Phoenix, and news reports show many arrested are nonviolent offenders or people whose only offense is unauthorized entry.

For the past few weeks, U.S. Air Force planes full of migrants wearing handcuffs have entered Guatemala almost daily. Two young women, Lesbia Pérez and Yoharis Reyes, arrived on February 6 in Guatemala City on a flight carrying 103 people, 85 men and 18 women, from Harlingen, Texas.

"The experience was terrifying; they kept you handcuffed all the time and shouted words that we couldn't understand because it was in English, and they forget that you are a human being," said Pérez, an 18-year-old who migrated to United States in November 2020 after a relative told her about better job opportunities there. She had an aunt in Los Angeles.

They forget that you are a human being
Yoharis Reyes

"I spent a lot of time hungry, cold and mistreated. This is the first decent meal I have received in several days," said Reyes, a 23-year-old single mother who left to seek employment and live with relatives in New York City.

Think Global Health met the pair during a tour at the Returnees Reception Center, established by the Guatemalan Institute of Migration inside the Guatemala Air Force. Flights from the United States and Mexico land with immigrants in this space. Upon arrival, deportees are called by their full name and must fill out identification paperwork. Here, authorities provide them with a meal and transportation by bus to a central plaza or a temporary shelter, where they remain for 24 to 72 hours.

The tour came the same week that Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Guatemala as part of a diplomatic mission through Central America to discuss immigration. Guatemala's President Bernardo Arévalo said at a press conference with Rubio, "We have agreed to increase by 40% the number of flights of deportees, both returnees with nationals and deportees of other nationalities."

Rubio, at the press conference, said that the U.S. government appreciates the strong diplomatic relationship between the two countries and will work together as allies to strengthen the development of the Guatemalan economy.

Migrants must fill out paperwork, after being called by their full name, on February 6, 2025. — Migrants fill out paperwork, after being called by their full name, at the Returnees Reception Center, in Guatemala City, Guatemala, onFebruary 6, 2025. Photo by Isabella Rolz

According to Reuters, arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement increased to approximately 800 to 1,200 per day during President Donald Trump's first week back in office. The pace has slowed but remains twice last year's average. According to experts from the Migration Policy Institute and the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) in Washington, DC, the number of flights with deportees arriving in Guatemala will increase in the upcoming months. The Guatemalan government unveiled the Return Home Plan, an initiative to guarantee a dignified return with opportunities for Guatemalan immigrants returning from the United States.

Trump said he wants officials to deport between 15 and 20 million people, a figure much higher than the estimated unauthorized population of 11 million in the United States. The administration's "border czar" Tom Homan said that every undocumented immigrant should worry they could be arrested at any time, even if they have no criminal record. "There're consequences [for] entering the country illegally. If we don't show consequences, you'll never fix the border problem," Homan told ABC News.

Why They Left

Pérez and Reyes both grew up in La Libertad, a small city in the northern department of Petén, near the border with Mexico. There, 66% of the population is dedicated to subsistence agriculture [PDF].

According to data from 2023 by the Guatemalan National Institute of Statistics (INE), 50% of Petén's population lives in extreme poverty, and only 6.3% are enrolled in some education.

The two young women said that after a rough few months on the journey to the United States, they reunited with their respective families in Los Angeles and New York City.

After their deportation experiences they no longer wanted to pursue the American dream

"I walked through dangerous areas where there were even violent organized crime groups and child kidnappers, but I was thinking every second, my daughter needs me to take this risk," said Reyes, who left her child in Guatemala all this time. Pérez said she slowly adapted to the new culture while working as a housekeeper, in restaurants, and in construction.

Both women said they worried for their undocumented relatives who've remained in the United States and that after their deportation experiences they no longer wanted to pursue the American dream.

"I would not try it again. It's not worth it. Now, what I want most is to be reunited with my daughter," said Reyes.

"Now that I'm in my country, I only dream of returning home and looking for a job," Pérez said. "I'm not leaving my community again."