You turn to us for voices you won't hear anywhere else.

Sign up for Democracy Now!'s Daily Digest to get our latest headlines and stories delivered to your inbox every day.

Guatemalans Deported by Trump Administration Recount Fear and Family Separations

HeadlineJan 30, 2025

Deportation flights to Latin America are continuing amid Trump’s escalating crackdown. Recently deported Guatemalans say the crackdown has targeted “everyone” in the immigrant community.

Walfred Ortiz: “Trump said that he was only going to catch the criminals, but now the police are also collaborating with immigration. So, if you are driving and there are two or three people in the car, they will get caught, even if they are not criminals. They are taking everyone.”

Hermelinda Matias: “I left two children there, and now I’m here in Guatemala. I don’t know how I can get them back. They took me away from my children. It’s tough to live, because I am a mother. I can’t live without my children.”

At least four U.S. military planes carrying deported individuals landed in Guatemala this week, following Colombia’s refusal to accept military deportation flights. Colombia instead sent its own aircraft to fly deportees home “with dignity.”

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top