US Deports 25,000 Migrants to Third Countries Including Africa

More than 25,000 people have been removed from the United States to third countries since Donald Trump returned to office, according to a six-month investigation by RFI and 23 other media outlets. The report, part of the Deportation Project coordinated by Forbidden Stories, indicates that hundreds of these individuals were sent to African nations, with at least 12 countries agreeing to receive them despite many having no prior ties to the continent.

The investigation highlights that some deportees were imprisoned without court decisions or left without clear legal status, while others were sent to locations where they face risks of persecution or torture. This practice has emerged as a primary mechanism for the administration to circumvent international prohibitions on returning individuals to countries where they might face harm, a legal principle known as non-refoulement.

Displacement Without Connection

One case detailed in the report involves a 32-year-old Iranian woman who was deported to the Central African Republic, a nation she had never visited. She was flown on a chartered plane operated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) alongside other migrants from Syria, Georgia, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Upon arrival in Bangui, she found herself in a country the U.S. State Department warns against visiting due to risks of kidnapping and terrorism.

The woman, who had been granted withholding of removal by a U.S. judge, stated that her destination was disclosed to her only mid-flight via the navigation screen. According to her account, officers communicated with her through gestures, as none spoke her language, leaving her in a state of shock and uncertainty about her legal standing in a foreign land where she had no support network.

Legal Protection Bypassed

The investigation suggests that third-country removal has become the main tool for bypassing the ban on refoulement, according to the deportee’s lawyer, Sahar Jalili Pawelski. While U.S. law does not explicitly prohibit deportation to a third country, such actions were historically rare. In recent years, however, they have become a standard practice for individuals who possess legal protections against return to their home countries.

In the case of the Iranian woman, her asylum claim was still pending when she was arrested again just 12 days after her release from detention. Despite having a legal protection that prevented the U.S. from sending her back to Iran, where she faced persecution risks linked to her activism, she was instead transferred to a third country. Her lawyer argued that this move effectively nullified the judicial protection she had secured.

Systemic Shift in Policy

The report indicates that this approach is part of a broader shift in U.S. immigration enforcement since January 2025. When the administration cannot send individuals back to their home countries due to legal barriers or diplomatic refusals, it now seeks alternative destinations willing to accept them. This has resulted in a significant number of migrants being relocated to countries with which they have no cultural, linguistic, or familial connections.

The consequences of these transfers vary, but the investigation found that many deportees face precarious conditions, including imprisonment without judicial oversight or a lack of clear pathways to legal status. The findings raise questions about the long-term implications for these individuals, who are often placed in environments where they are vulnerable to further harm due to their lack of local integration and support.