Miami
More than 25,000 people were deported by the United States to third countries since 2025
A coordinated investigation by Forbidden Stories and published by France 24 reconstructed the scope of removals to countries that are not migrants’ countries of origin. The review also includes allegations of human rights violations and judicial challenges to the policy.
Since Donald Trump took office in January 2025, the United States has deported more than 25,000 people to so-called third countries, that is, destinations that are not their places of origin and with which they often have no ties, according to an investigation by France 24 together with a consortium of 26 media outlets coordinated by Forbidden Stories.
The review indicates that some 20,000 non-Mexican people were sent to Mexico by land, despite the fact that there is no official agreement between the two countries for that arrangement. In addition, at least 5,447 people of 89 nationalities were transferred on flights to different parts of the world through August 31, 2026.
According to the investigation, 28 countries on six continents had received deportees from the United States under this modality by that date. Agreements had also been reached with seven other countries to enable this type of transfer. France 24 noted that, already in September, Guyana received its first group: six people from Cuba and Afghanistan.
The second destination with the largest number of deportees was Guatemala, with nearly 3,000 people, 90% of whom were Mexican citizens. Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama and El Salvador also received more than 250 people each. In Africa, 13 countries signed agreements of this type with Washington and 12 had already received deportees as of August 31, 2026, for a total of 450 people. Ghana was the African country with the highest intake, with more than 100 cases, while the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Sierra Leone and Eswatini received dozens.
The investigation maintains that there was scant official communication about these transfers and that, over time, the policy became more opaque. Savi Arvey, of Human Rights First, told the consortium that the government had been reducing public information about these operations. The work relied on flight-tracking data, information requests, NGOs, lawyers and sources in different countries.
France 24 included testimonies from people affected by these deportations. One of them was Rabbiatu Kuyateh, born in Sierra Leone, who had lived in the United States for more than 30 years and was detained in July 2025 during a routine appointment with ICE in Baltimore. After spending four months in custody, she learned she would be sent to Ghana. It also reported the case of Malick, a Senegalese man who had arrived in the United States in 2023, and that of Soraya, a Ghanaian woman who said she had fled because of her sexual orientation and ended up in Cameroon.
According to the report, several of the expelled people had a protection known as withholding of removal, which prevents their return to their country of origin when there is a risk to their life or freedom. Human rights organizations and lawyers warned that this new practice seeks to avoid direct return to the country of origin, but still exposes those affected to new dangers.
The Department of Homeland Security had stated in June 2025 that the policy applied to foreigners with serious criminal records. However, according to the testimonies gathered by the consortium and reports from different organizations, many of those deported had no criminal records and others had already completed their sentences years earlier.
The investigation also mentions allegations of mistreatment, arbitrary detentions and risk of chain refoulement, a situation in which a person is sent to a third country and then returned to their country of origin, where they may face persecution. The case of Isatou, a woman from Guinea who was transferred to Ghana and then returned to her country, was presented by the consortium as an example of that danger.
On September 18, 2026, a U.S. federal appeals court ruled that it is illegal to deport people to third countries without giving them a real opportunity to raise fears of torture or persecution. It also rejected the government’s position that the general human rights assurances offered by those countries were sufficient. Even so, DHS general counsel James Percival said shortly afterward that the ruling would not prevent the policy from continuing. Trina Realmuto, of the National Immigration Litigation Alliance, said instead to the consortium that the decision was already in force, although she anticipated that the government could appeal to the Supreme Court.
According to lawyers and organizations cited by France 24, the use of third countries also works as a deterrent tool to discourage migration and encourage self-deportation. In that vein, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin had warned in August 2025 that those who entered the United States illegally could end up in CECOT, Guantánamo, Alligator Alcatraz, South Sudan or another third country.
Sources
About this note. Written by El Notero with the assistance of artificial intelligence, based on what was published by the cited outlet. El Notero did not conduct its own reporting on this event.
