The United States has deported more than 25,000 people to third countries under secretive agreements with 35 nations, including countries with which the migrants have no ties, according to an investigation published Monday.
Since US President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, Washington has struck deals with developing countries to accept migrants who cannot legally be returned to their countries of origin.
The investigation by Forbidden Stories found that the administration has earmarked $410 million for the arrangements, with funds going either directly to receiving countries or to UN agencies involved in facilitating the transfers.
At least 25,447 people had been deported to third countries by August 31, 2026, according to data compiled by Forbidden Stories in collaboration with a consortium of international journalists.
The vast majority — around 20,000 — were sent to Mexico. The remainder were dispersed among 27 other countries in Latin America, Africa and the Pacific, while agreements have been finalized with seven additional countries.
The arrangements vary in scope, including which nationalities can be deported and whether countries will accept people with criminal records.
An AFP investigation earlier this year found that Washington was using visa bans and other restrictions targeting African countries to pressure them into accepting deportees.
Lawyers told AFP that some deportees were being placed in a “legal black hole,” held without charge in countries where they had no ties and had few, if any, legal rights.
Forbidden Stories said 49 of Africa’s 54 countries had been approached about accepting migrants deported from the United States.
A little-known State Department division, the Office of Remigration, created in May 2025, has handled most of the negotiations and payments, according to Forbidden Stories.
The office is headed by Christian Jove Ehrhardt, a 41-year-old diplomat who previously worked as a security officer.
The investigation detailed Ehrhardt’s visits to Cameroon, which signed a memorandum of understanding with the United States in December to accept deportees. A week later, Cameroon also signed a five-year health assistance programme worth nearly $400 million.
The following month, the State Department said it would provide an additional $30 million to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Cameroon to “facilitate the voluntary return of refugees and combat illegal immigration.”
The first plane carrying deportees arrived in Cameroon on January 14.
Payments
Some agreements have involved direct payments to receiving governments.
Palau, a small Pacific island nation with a population of fewer than 18,000, signed an agreement in December 2025 to accept up to 75 third-country nationals in exchange for $7.5 million.
So far, however, only three people have been sent to Palau under the agreement.
In Eswatini, 32 people have arrived since July 2025 under an agreement allowing for up to 160 deportees and worth more than $5 million. The country has accepted deportees with criminal records, the investigation found.
Of the $410 million allocated for the agreements, internal State Department records showed that $81 million was earmarked for signatory governments.
The remainder was intended for aid organizations, including more than $178 million for the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) and $123 million for UNHCR.
The agencies have faced criticism over their involvement. 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.
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.”
AFP
