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More than 4,000 Nicaraguans, aboard 35 flights, were deported from the United States in the first nine months of 2025, according to information from the U.S. State Department and independent reports analyzed by CONFIDENCIAL.
The 35 flights carrying deported Nicaraguans arrived in the country between January 9 and September 13, 2025, according to the organization Human Rights First, which took over monitoring of flights operated by ICE Air, conducted by researcher Thomas Cartwright.
On 31 of these flights, about 3,751 Nicaraguans arrived, according to information provided to CONFIDENCIAL by a State Department official. However, that figure only accounts for flights that landed between January and September 2.
Between Tuesday, September 2, and Saturday, September 13, another four flights landed in Managua, according to Human Rights First, bringing the total number of Nicaraguans deported to 4,200 in nine months.
Flights carrying deported Nicaraguans increased substantially under Donald Trump’s new administration. In 2024, during Joe Biden’s presidency, about 3,996 Nicaraguans were deported on 26 flights, according to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) database on returnees.
A CONFIDENCIAL analysis published in August 2025 revealed that, up to that point, most of the deported Nicaraguans were men between the ages of 20 and 40 who had migrated to the United States less than five years earlier. The majority had no criminal record but, lacking legal status to reside in the U.S., were deported either individually or in groups of up to 167 people.
Eleven stopovers in Guantánamo
Of the 35 flights carrying deported Nicaraguans, aerial monitoring identified eleven that departed from Alexandria International Airport in Louisiana, made a stop at the U.S. naval base in Guantánamo, Cuba, and then continued on to Augusto C. Sandino International Airport in Managua.
This flight pattern was recorded on the following arrival dates:
- April 3, 2025
- April 16, 2025
- April 30, 2025
- May 20, 2025
- May 22, 2025
- May 29, 2025
- June 5, 2025
- June 12, 2025
- June 19, 2025
- June 26, 2025
- July 10, 2025
The remaining 21 flights followed the direct Alexandria–Managua route. In addition, two flights departed from Miami and arrived in Managua, while one departed from Houston bound for the Nicaraguan capital.
Historically, Nicaragua received two flights per month, arriving on the first and third Thursday of each month. However, the U.S. is now sending flights on other days, including Sundays.
In the first half of September, for example, there were two flights on a Tuesday: the 2nd and the 9th; two on a Friday: the 5th and the 12th; and one on Saturday the 13th.
In September 2025, for the first time, three flights arrived in the same week. These were:
- Tuesday, September 9, Alexandria to Managua. Arrival: 1:30 p.m.
- Friday, September 12, Alexandria to Managua. Arrival: 12:58 p.m.
- Saturday, September 13, Miami to Managua. Arrival: 8:04 p.m.
According to the Deportation Data Project, in the first half of 2025 U.S. authorities arrested 3,051 Nicaraguans. Of those, 780 had deportation orders.
Central America tops deportation flights
According to a Human Rights First report, of the 1,341 deportation flights from the United States between January and August 2025, 55% were to Central America, with Guatemala and Honduras receiving the highest number.
In total, 731 deportation flights arrived in the Central American region. Of these:
- 309 went to Guatemala
- 259 to Honduras
- 119 to El Salvador
- 30 to Nicaragua
- 8 to Costa Rica
- 3 to Panama
- 3 to Belize
However, in the last three countries, the flights carried extra-continental migrants who were later sent on to their countries of origin, rather than nationals as in the rest of Central America.
The government of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo is the only one in the region that does not provide information on the return of its deported citizens. Nor does it report whether any reintegration program exists.
