At least 25,447 people had been sent to 28 countries by August 31 under the US administration’s practice of sending migrants to third countries instead of their countries of origin. Since Donald Trump took office in January 2025, agreements had been reached with 35 countries for the practice.
These findings emerged from an investigation led by Forbidden Stories involving 72 journalists from 26 media organizations in 15 countries. As part of the investigation, more than 100 interviews were conducted with migrants, government officials, lawyers and experts.
A third country is defined as a country whose citizen the migrant is not, but to which the migrant is deported from the US. Most details of the agreements have not been made public.
Hundreds of millions of dollars planned for the agreements
US State Department records obtained by The Washington Post showed that at least $410 million was planned to secure agreements with third countries.
- $81 million was allocated to the governments that signed the agreements.
- More than $178 million was allocated to the International Organization for Migration.
- More than $123 million was allocated to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Most of the agreements were implemented through the Office of Remigration, established during the State Department’s restructuring in 2025.
The White House defended the practice
The White House said that the people sent to third countries were migrants whose countries of origin had refused to accept them. The group also included people who were subject to deportation orders and did not want to return to their countries of origin, according to the statement.
On September 18, a federal appeals court in the US halted the deportation of migrants to third countries. The court concluded that the migrants had not received adequate notice or a sufficient opportunity to challenge their deportation orders.
