Trump Administration Escalates Third-Country Deportations Amidst Global Human Rights Condemnation

United States immigration authorities have significantly increased detentions and deportations since January 2025, following Donald Trump's assumption of the presidency. Trump's campaign promise included initiating the "largest deportation operation in American history." The Department of Homeland Security, leading this enforcement effort, is now apprehending thousands of individuals daily across the nation. This surge includes asylum seekers who are legally entitled to present their cases regarding potential dangers in their home countries. US law and international agreements, such as the UN Convention Against Torture, mandate that individuals cannot be deported to nations where they face persecution or torture.

Many individuals detained in the current US immigration crackdown report facing risks of harm or death if returned to their native countries. Consequently, the Trump administration has pursued alternative deportation destinations, including countries with which deportees may have no cultural or legal connections. This practice, known as third-country deportations, has drawn criticism from both US entities and international human rights organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, as well as the United Nations.

Critics point out that some of these third countries have their own records of human rights abuses or are deemed too dangerous for US citizens to travel to. Furthermore, concerns have been raised about the lack of assurance that these third countries will provide fair asylum hearings, potentially leading to deportees being sent back to their home countries to face persecution.

While third-country deportations are not a new phenomenon, rights groups assert that they were exceptionally rare before the Trump administration and have never been implemented by the US on the current scale. Reports from rights groups indicate that individuals subjected to these deportations would not have been removed without their consent. Although some US courts have ruled this practice illegal, the US Supreme Court has permitted it to continue, including a ruling in September.

UN experts have warned that this practice is causing a "cascade of human rights violations" globally, potentially undermining established norms for the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers.

A Closer Look at Third-Country Deportations:

Nonprofit organizations Refugees International and Human Rights First have attempted to quantify forcible third-country deportations. Based on media reports and attorney information, they estimate that over 25,000 individuals have undergone such deportations. The Department of Homeland Security's own data reveals more than 16,000 cases of third-country deportations between Trump's inauguration in January 2025 and August 2026, the most recent data available. This data, shared with the Deportation Data Project at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of California, Los Angeles, and analyzed by Al Jazeera, is likely an incomplete count.

These deportations require the approval of authorities in the receiving countries. As a result, the Trump administration has been actively pursuing agreements, both formal and informal, to send deportees to an expanding list of nations. Some countries, such as El Salvador and Eswatini, have agreed to detain deportees in prisons. Others have agreed to temporary holds, with some signing Asylum Cooperative Agreements, or "Safe Third Country Agreements," which allow deportees to seek asylum in the host third country.

According to Refugees International and Human Rights First, many deportees are unaware of their destinations and find themselves in countries where they do not speak the language or understand the culture. Some lack essential documents like passports or identification, complicating their ability to reside in these new locations.

The number of countries accepting deportees has grown as the US offers incentives, including financial aid, business opportunities, or visa concessions, in exchange for accepting individuals the Trump administration wishes to remove. For example, Liberia has agreed to accept up to 1,200 deportees, with the Trump administration extending the validity of certain Liberian visas and committing $124 million to the country's health services. In Cameroon, which agreed to accept third-country nationals in December 2025, the Trump administration has pledged $30 million for UN refugee work and $400 million over the coming years for health services.