
Guatemala
Americas
Advocacy for Guatemala
What’s Happening?
Guatemalans have fled their country in large numbers since the 1980s to escape violence, impunity, corruption, poverty, lack of security and services, droughts, and hurricanes. Many are unaccompanied children who frequently have relatives in the United States. Guatemala’s economy relies heavily on remittances from the United States even as tens of thousands of Guatemalans are deported from the U.S. each year, frequently saddled with debt and targeted for extortion upon arrival, while lacking sufficient support with re-integration.
What Must Be Done?
Refugees International is advocating for increased protections for displaced Guatemalans, including increased support for those displaced by the impacts of climate change. It also opposes Guatemala serving as a “bridge” to repatriate third country nationals denied a chance to seek asylum in the United States.
Latest Reports and Briefs

Mixed Blessing: Guatemalan Experiences under the New Central American Minors Program
March 15, 2023

Two Years after Eta and Iota: Displaced and Forgotten in Guatemala
February 17, 2023

Networks of Care for Displaced LGBTQ+ People: How the United States Can Support LGBTQ+-led Organizations in Central America and Mexico
January 27, 2022
Latest Statements and News
Latest Opinions, Q&As, and Explainers
Latest Advocacy Letters

Biden Administration: Redress ACA’s Wrongful Return of Asylum Seekers to Guatemala
July 9, 2021

Refugees International Opposes Asylum Cooperative Agreements with Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras
December 23, 2019

U.S. Policy in Mexico and Central America: Ensuring Effective Policies to Address the Crisis at the Border
September 25, 2019