Two US migrant deportation flights arrive in Guatemala

Two US military planes carrying dozens of expelled migrants have arrived in Guatemala, authorities said, without specifying whether they were part of the deportation operation launched by President Donald Trump.

A total of 79 Guatemalans — 48 men and 31 women — were on a first flight that landed at around midnight, the Central American country's migration institute said on Friday.

The second, with an unspecified number of migrants on board, arrived on Friday morning.

The White House announced late on Thursday that "538 illegal immigrant criminals" had been arrested and hundreds deported by military aircraft, saying that "the largest massive deportation operation in history is well under way."

The Guatemalan government did not confirm whether any of those migrants were among the deportees that arrived on Friday.

"These are flights that took place after Trump took office," an official in the Guatemalan vice president's office told AFP.

A Pentagon source told AFP that "overnight, two DOD (Department of Defense) aircraft conducted repatriation flights from the US to Guatemala."

Early on Friday the White House posted an image on X of men in shackles being marched into a military aircraft, with the caption: "Deportation flights have begun."

And Trump told reporters that the flights were to get "the bad, hard criminals out."

"Murderers, people that have been as bad as you get. As bad as anybody you've seen," he said.

Trump's crackdown on irregular immigration

Deportation flights were carried out regularly under Trump's predecessor Joe Biden, whose administration removed some 270,000 people in fiscal year 2023 — more than any year of Trump's first presidency.

Friday's deportees were taken to a reception centre at an air force base in Guatemala's capital, away from the media.

Trump promised a crackdown on illegal immigration during the election campaign and began his second term with a flurry of executive actions aimed at overhauling entry to the United States.

On his first day in office he signed orders declaring a "national emergency" at the southern border and announced the deployment of more troops to the area while vowing to deport "criminal aliens."

His administration said it would also reinstate a "Remain in Mexico" policy under which people who apply to enter the United States from Mexico must remain there until their application has been decided.

The White House has also halted an asylum programme for people fleeing Central and South American countries, leaving thousands of people stranded on the Mexican side of the border.