WASHINGTON, DC — Guatemala is receiving a changed population of returnees — people who have spent years, sometimes decades, building lives in the United States and who face a more difficult road to re-establishing themselves upon return. Amid a growing U.S. enforcement focus on identifying unauthorized immigrants in U.S. communities, the profile of Guatemalan returnees has started to evolve. Unlike returnees in prior years, who were more likely to be intercepted near the U.S.-Mexico border, today’s returning migrants are more likely to have significant years of U.S. residence and other characteristics that make their reintegration more complex.
This raises important questions for Guatemala, in particular with deportations expected to increase as the United States devotes unprecedented resources to immigration enforcement. The Guatemalan government has taken steps in recent years to improve reception and reintegration support for returnees and to capitalize on their skills and ambitions, culminating in the launch of the Return Home Plan in February 2025.
Still, Guatemala's reintegration system is at an inflection point, as a new report by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) and International Organization for Migration (IOM) shows.
Targeted reforms could significantly improve outcomes for returnees and the communities they return to, MPI analysts Ariel G. Ruiz Soto, María Jesús Mora and Diego Chaves-González write. These include strengthening governance and institutional coordination, data collection to better understand returnee and local economic needs, increased private-sector engagement and embedding return and reintegration within national development and macroeconomic strategies.
The report, Rebuilding Lives in Guatemala: Understanding Returnee Profiles and Reintegration Challenges, draws on analysis of administrative data, a voluntary survey of more than 12,000 returnee cases, IOM-facilitated focus groups with 156 adult returnees and dozens of interviews with government officials, immigrant and community group leaders, and private-sector actors in Guatemala and the United States.
More than 55,000 Guatemalans were deported to Guatemala in 2025, the vast majority from the United States and smaller numbers from Mexico. Compared to 2024, returnees in 2025 were more likely to be adult men (88 percent, up from 73 percent), older (median age 29, up from 26), speakers of Indigenous languages such as K'iche' and Mam, and from rural communities in Guatemala's Western Highlands.
Critically, the amount of time returnees had spent in the United States before repatriation also grew. The share with less than five years of U.S. residence fell from 50 percent in January 2025 to 43 percent by September, while the share with five to nine years of U.S. residence rose from 22 percent to 30 percent. One-quarter of surveyed returnees had lived in the United States for 10 or more years.
Still, many returnees see their future in Guatemala. Half of those surveyed said they had no interest in emigrating again, and among the 31 percent who would consider it, 78 percent said they would consider staying if they had employment opportunities, with most expressing willingness to relocate within Guatemala for a job.
These responses underscore the need to get reintegration right.
Guatemala's Return Home Plan represents a significant and proactive step, including its coordination of consular services in the United States and inter-institutional capacities in Guatemala, the analysts found. Led by the Guatemalan Institute of Migration, the plan consolidates services from more than 20 government agencies, international organizations and private-sector actors at a central Service and Registration Center (CAR) in Guatemala City and provides referrals for long-term reintegration support in communities of return.
At the same time, as the report demonstrates, persistent reintegration challenges remain. Most returnees arrived in Guatemala alone, lacking information about existing services and with family members still in the United States. Many of them also faced immediate financial strain from migration debt and lost belongings, and geographic barriers limited their access to local reintegration services, particularly in rural areas.
Returnees expressed strong interest in formal employment, entrepreneurship and skills certification for work experience gained abroad. But they frequently encountered mismatches between their U.S. work history and Guatemala's labor market, hesitance from some employers to hire returnees and limited capital for those who wanted to start businesses.
"Guatemala has built a meaningful foundation with the Return Home Plan, but as the population it serves is changing, getting reintegration right is critically important to ensure returnees can build a future in the country and that the value of their contributions to local communities is maximized,” said Ruiz Soto. “With the right investments in employment pathways, coordination and data, Guatemala can turn this challenge into an opportunity."
Read the report here: www.migrationpolicy.org/research/guatemala-returnee-profiles-reintegration.
For a version of the report in Spanish, click here.
For all of MPI’s research and analysis on Latin America and the Caribbean, visit: www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/latin-america-caribbean-initiative.