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U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem (L) and Guatemalan Interior Minister Francisco Jimenez sign a security program agreement at the National Palace in Guatemala City on June 26, 2025. AP Photo/Moises Castillo
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Thursday that Honduras and Guatemala have signed deals that would allow people applying for asylum in the United States to seek refuge in those nations instead.
“Honduras and now Guatemala, after today, will be countries that will take those individuals and give them refuge status as well,” Noem told reporters after concluding her three-day trip to Central America.
Noem stated that the agreements are part of the Trump administration’s efforts to expand options for transferring refugees, allowing their deportation to third countries, rather than just to their own countries.
“We’ve never believed that the United States should be the only option, that the guarantee for a refugee is that they go somewhere to be safe and to be protected from whatever threat they face in their country. It doesn’t necessarily have to be the United States,” she said.
Guatemalan and Honduran officials, however, denied signing any third-country agreement with the United States during Noem’s visit. Honduran immigration director Wilson Paz said no such deal was made.
Guatemala’s presidential communications office also denied signing any immigration-related agreement during a meeting with Noem, noting that its nation would only serve as a temporary stop for Central American migrants being returned by U.S. authorities to their home countries.
The Epoch Times sought comment from the Department of Homeland Security, but did not receive a response by publication time.
On June 26, Noem and Guatemalan Interior Minister Francisco Jimenez signed a memorandum of understanding establishing a Joint Security Program that would allow both nations to share biometric data and expand cooperation in criminal vetting to enhance security at borders and airports.
Jimenez said that the memorandum is intended to protect Guatemalans from “real threats” and to strengthen the Central American nation’s border and airport security controls.
“Strengthening cooperation ties with our allies is key to ensuring the safety of Guatemalan citizens,” he stated on social media platform X. “The relationship with the U.S. in matters of security is stronger than ever.”
The United States also signed “a statement of intent” for biometric cooperation with Honduras on June 26, with a focus on tackling illegal immigration, according to Noem.
“We strengthened our partnership to combat illegal migration by signing a statement of intent for biometric cooperation—a critical tool to help both Honduras and the United States detect criminals and terrorists attempting to cross our borders,” she said in a statement.
Noem’s tour of Central America also included Costa Rica and Panama. While in Costa Rica, she met with President Rodrigo Chaves Robles to discuss strengthening bilateral ties between their nations “through enhanced collaboration on security issues, including countering transnational crime, drug trafficking, and illegal migration,” according to the U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica.
During her visit to Panama, Noem extended a memorandum—originally signed between the United States and Panama last year—allowing Panama to continue receiving U.S. funding under the deal, and an additional $7 million for its deportation flights and efforts to curb illegal immigration, including southbound migration from the United States.
“This partnership underscores the importance of our partner countries to help keep violent criminal illegal aliens from entering the U.S.,” the DHS said in a statement.
In February, Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed a deal with Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo under which Guatemala would accept illegal immigrants who are being deported from the United States.
Under this deal, Guatemala agreed to act only as a step in the U.S. plan to return all deportees to their home countries, a process that Arévalo said would be done at the expense of the U.S. government.
Guatemala is already cooperating with the United States in receiving both military and civilian deportation flights.
The Associated Press and T.J. Muscaro contributed to this report.
