April 16, 2025 Amid the pledge of rising deportations from the United States, less policy focus has been given to a longer-term issue: the reception and reintegration of returnees to Mexico and northern Central America. This is particularly consequential given the changing nature of U.S. immigration enforcement: Rather than being quickly returned from the U.S. border, returnees increasingly will be likely to have many years of U.S. residence and deep ties to the United States. As a new short read by María Jesús Mora and Ariel G. Ruiz Soto explains, while Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras have existing reception and reintegration programs, and in some cases are expanding them or launching new ones, these initiatives have been largely ineffective in improving returnees’ long-term conditions—which often were the reason why people migrated in the first place. Successful reintegration outcomes for returnees, which could translate into a reduction in repeat irregular migration, will depend on well-resourced reintegration infrastructure in these four countries, which received 319,000 returnees in 2024 alone. This also will require a fundamental rethinking of shared responsibility with the United States. “The likelihood of a significant increase in deportations from the United States offers an opportunity to rethink reintegration programming responsibility and how to achieve better outcomes—integration and migration management ones alike,” write Mora and Ruiz Soto “Continuing to think that once returnees arrive in receiving countries they are out of sight and out of mind is short-sighted and unsustainable.” Already under-resourced reception and reintegration programs in the region could face new challenges amid sweeping cuts to U.S. foreign assistance and anticipated increases in returnees. And the changing profile of returnees could require different reintegration programming. These four countries will need to carefully consider their capacities and these converging challenges when negotiating future repatriation agreements. “Their discussions with the U.S. government should go beyond their willingness to receive returnees and also cover augmenting their capacity to reintegrate migrants into their societies. Doing so would be beneficial for returnees’ long-term well-being and for all parties at the negotiating table,” the authors note. Find the short read here: www.migrationpolicy.org/news/reintegration-forgotten-side-deportation. And for more from MPI’s Latin America and Caribbean Initiative, visit: www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/latin-america-caribbean-initiative. | 
