US has deported 25,000 people to third countries under secretive deals, report finds

The United States has deported more than 25,000 people to third countries under secretive agreements with 35 countries, an investigation by Forbidden Stories published Monday found.

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.

How many people has the US deported to third countries?

At least 25,447 people had been deported to third countries by August 31, 2026, according to data compiled by Forbidden Stories with a consortium of international journalists. The vast majority, around 20,000, went to Mexico, while the rest were sent to 27 other countries across Latin America, Africa and the Pacific. Agreements have been finalized with seven more.

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

How is Washington getting countries to accept deportees?

An AFP investigation earlier this year found Washington is using visa bans and restrictions on African countries to strongarm them into accepting deportees. Forbidden Stories said 49 of Africa's 54 countries had been approached about accepting third-country deportees. 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.

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

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 program worth nearly $400 million. 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."

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

How much is the US paying for third-country deportation deals?

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. Of that total, internal State Department records showed that $81 million was earmarked for signatory governments. The rest was intended for aid organizations, including more than $178 million for the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM), and $123 million for UNHCR.

Some agreements have involved direct payments to governments. 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. However, only three people have so far been sent under the agreement.

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.

The agencies have faced criticism over their involvement, although UNHCR told Forbidden Stories that it was not 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."