Evidence of abuse and violence in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Costa Rica highlight urgent need for change
A new report, titled How Cruel Migration Policies Hurt People documents the experiences of people who have been deported from the U.S., forced to return to their home countries, or have been trapped in third countries due to U.S. immigration policies. The report is based on interviews with people in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Costa Rica. It highlights the harmful impact of U.S. policies and tells the stories of many individuals impacted by them.
Based on hundreds of interviews conducted in four countries, this is one of the first reports produced in Latin America to document through data and stories the human cost of the United States' deportation policies. The report covers the conditions of detention and deportation, the forced return of migrants from the United States and Mexico, and the impact of these frightening, violent, and degrading processes on the lives of migrants and their families.
“While reporting on the individuals who are being deported or forced to return to their or other countries is usually limited to statistical documentation, this report goes beyond: it traces the stories, lived realities and policies which deeply impact millions of people,” said Marcia Aguiluz, Regional Director of Latin America and the Caribbean at the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). “This report shows how detentions, deportations and forced returns destroy the roots and stability that individuals and families have built up over many years in countries such as the United States. It exposes how cruelty and torture are prevalent in the detention and deportation of migrants. It gives evidence of the human cost of cruel immigration policies and can be used to demand accountability and restore the dignity of people who are impacted by it.”
“By shedding light on the harm people and families are facing due to third country removal policies, our hope with this report is that government leaders will act to ensure that care for human rights and safety are top priority at all times,” said Imani Cruz, Global Policy Coordinator for Migration Justice with the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). “This expanding trend is being implemented as a substitute for real systematic change and is at the expense of human lives.”
The report is a collaborative work by American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Casa Violeta of Organización Mujeres en Superación in Guatemala, the Fray Matías de Córdoba Human Rights Center and the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) in Mexico, the Center for the Integration of Migrant Workers (CIMITRA) and the Independent Monitoring Group of El Salvador (GMIES) in El Salvador, and the Jesuit Service for Migrants in Costa Rica (SJM-CR). Refugees International also supported it.
KEY FINDINGS
A total of 364 people were interviewed in key territories in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Costa Rica between June and August 2025.
44% were detained or deported by the United States and 20% by Mexico.
34% of respondents were forced to return to their home countries due to the fear of detention. Some of these individuals are 'stuck' in countries that are not their own.
Most interviewees had been well-established in the U.S. Fifty-seven percent of those interviewed reported having lived in the U.S. for 6+ years, and 34% had lived there for more than a decade, with their families, stable employment, and strong ties to their communities.
“I do not consider myself a migrant. I left here (Guatemala) 18 years ago, when I was 17. I have a U.S. citizen wife and a child born there. I consider myself just another American citizen, but ICE’s treatment made me change my mind and decide it was better to stay in Guatemala.”
Guatemalan man, detained and deported by U.S. authorities. Interview conducted in Guatemala.
Torture and cruelty are prevalent:
In describing their detention and deportation, interviewees described conditions and treatment that range from cruel, inhuman, and degrading. Interviewees discussed intimidation, threats, humiliation, overcrowding, lack of due process, discrimination, and racism, sexual and gender-based violence, and family separation.
Of the 169 people deported by the U.S., 38 reported being denied or having limited access to food, water, and hygiene, and 25 reported having been held in cold rooms.
In Mexico, of the 72 people who reported having been in immigration detention, 29% stated that they were not informed about the process they were undergoing, 13% reported excessive use of force, and 10% indicated that they had been victims of discrimination and racism, psychological abuse, and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.
“(In) El Paso, Texas I was there for three days. After three days, they took me out in shackles on my hands, feet, waist, everything. They put me on a plane, and when it landed, it said McAllen, Texas, and I was detained there for another nine days… the treatment was bad…... when you are a migrant, you are not allowed to speak because they beat you. The food was bad too. Three Americans, about two meters tall beat a Venezuelan man in front of me… I ate and slept on the floor.”
Venezuelan man, 37 years old, detained and deported by U.S. authorities and handed over to Mexican migration authorities, who transferred him to the southern border in Villahermosa, from where he began a reverse migration journey through Central America.
The report aims to place human rights and dignity at the center of immigration policies, in all countries and particularly the U.S. It is a call to denounce policies based on discrimination and cruelty, and to reconnect with the empathy and solidarity that define us as human beings.
You can read the full report here.
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The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) promotes a world free of violence, inequality, and oppression. Guided by the Quaker belief in the divine light within each person, we nurture the seeds of change and the respect for human life to fundamentally transform our societies and institutions. We work with people and partners worldwide, of all faiths and backgrounds, to meet urgent community needs, challenge injustice, and build peace.