Original Date Announced

The United States signed a "safe" third country agreement, similar to the agreements signed with Guatemala and El Salvador. The agreement, signed by Acting Secretary Kevin K. McAleenan, allows the U.S. to transfer certain asylum seekers to Honduras. This agreement is not applicable to Honduran citizens or residents and guarantees that it will be applied to unaccompanied minors consistent with U.S. law.

[ID# 1083]

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

U.T. v. Barr

On January 15, 2020, the ACLU, National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, and Human Rights First filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s policies that are resulting in asylum-seekers being sent to so-called “safe” third countries to apply for asylum rather than being allowed to file asylum claims in the U.S. Cross motions for summary judgment remain pending with the court as of Oct. 26, 2020.

**Litigation is listed for informational purposes and is not comprehensive. For the current status of legal challenges, check other sources.**

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

Asylum Cooperative Agreement with Honduras Finalized

DHS announced that the United States and Honduras have concluded the implementation accords for the Asylum Cooperative Agreement, under which certain migrants requesting asylum or similar humanitarian protection at the border will be transferred to Honduras to seek protection in Honduras.

[ID #1253]

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

DHS Announces Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras Have Signed Asylum Cooperation Agreement

DHS announces that Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras have all signed Asylum Cooperation [sic] Agreements (ACA) and that all three ACAs have entered into force. The agreements allow the United States to remove certain migrants seeking humanitarian protection to the ACA countries.

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.07.08 DHS - Agreement between U.S. and Honduras on Asylum Protection Requests

On July 8, 2025, DHS published an agreement with Honduras under which certain non-Honduran migrants who seek asylum or other humanitarian protection in the U.S. may be removed to Honduras to seek protection there. Under the agreement, the United States will determine protection requests for individuals determined by the U.S. to be unaccompanied minors or individuals who arrived in the U.S. with a valid visa or admission document or who were not required to have a visa to enter the U.S. The agreement between the countries was signed in March 2025 and amended in June 2025 to clarify that it will apply retroactively to individuals who seek protection in the U.S. before the date the agreement enters into force, and not just to those who seek protection on or after the agreement goes into effect.

The first Trump administration signed ACAs with Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador in 2019, and the Biden administration terminated these agreements in 2021 as described in a prior entry. The ACAs, also known as "safe third country" agreements, were subject to criticism during the first Trump administration on the grounds that Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador did not have functional asylum systems and could not protect migrants from gang violence or gender- and sexuality-based persecution.