US deported 25,000 to third countries under secretive deals- Report

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The United States has deported more than 25,000 people under secretive agreements with 35 countries to take migrants with no ties to those nations, according to an investigation published Monday.

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Since US President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, Washington has been signing deals with developing countries to take migrants who cannot legally be sent home.

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The investigation by Forbidden Stories found the administration has earmarked $410 million to be paid directly to the receiving countries, or to UN agencies to facilitate the returns.

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At least 25,447 people had already been deported to third countries by August 31, 2026, according to data compiled by Forbidden Stories with a consortium of international journalists.

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The vast majority — around 20,000 — were sent to Mexico, but the rest were dispersed to 27 other countries across Latin America, Africa, and the Pacific, and agreements have been finalised with seven more.

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The deals vary, including over which nationalities can be deported and whether people with criminal records can be accepted.

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An AFP investigation earlier this year found Washington is using visa bans and restrictions on African countries to strongarm them into accepting deportees.

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Lawyers told AFP that deportees were being thrown into a “legal black hole”, held without charge in countries where they have no ties and few if any rights.

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Forbidden Stories said 49 of Africa’s 54 countries had been approached about accepting third-country deportees.

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A little-known State Department division called the Office of Remigration, created in May 2025, has handled most of the negotiations and payments, according to Forbidden Stories.

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The office is headed by Christian Jove Ehrhardt, a 41-year-old diplomat who previously worked as a security officer.

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The report details his visits to Cameroon, which signed a memorandum of understanding with the US in December on accepting deportees. A week later, it also signed a five-year health assistance programme worth nearly $400 million.

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The following month, the State Department said it would provide a further $30 million to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Cameroon to “facilitate the voluntary return of refugees and combat illegal immigration.”

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The first plane carrying deportees arrived in Cameroon on January 14.

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– Payments –

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Other agreements have involved direct payments to governments.

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Palau, a small Pacific island nation with a population of under 18,000, signed an agreement in December 2025 to accept up to 75 third-country nationals in return for $7.5 million.

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However, only three people have so far been sent under the agreement.

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In Eswatini, 32 people have arrived since July 2025 out of a possible 160 under an agreement worth more than $5 million. It has accepted deportees with criminal records, the investigation found.

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Of the $410 million planned for the agreements, internal State Department records showed that $81 million was earmarked for signatory governments.

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The rest was intended for aid organisations, including more than $178 million for the UN’s International Organisation for Migration, and $123 million for UNHCR.

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The agencies have faced criticism over their involvement, although UNHCR told Forbidden Stories that it was not a party to the bilateral agreements and that US funding was being used in line with its mandate to strengthen asylum systems.

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An IOM spokesperson told Forbidden Stories that the agency’s decisions to accept funding rested “on a single question: whether our engagement will improve the lives of the migrants affected. In these instances, we believe strongly it does.”

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AFP

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