US Secretly Deported 25,000 Migrants to 35 Third Countries

A Forbidden Stories-led investigation finds the US paid $410 million under secret deals to deport over 25,000 people to countries where they have no ties.

The United States has deported at least 25,447 people to third countries by August 31, 2026, under secretive agreements with 35 countries, according to an investigation by Forbidden Stories published Monday with a consortium of international journalists including France 24 and RFI. About 20,000 were sent to Mexico, while the rest were dispersed to 27 other countries across Latin America, Africa and the Pacific, with deals finalised with seven more. Africanews reports the administration earmarked $410 million, paid directly to receiving countries or to UN agencies to facilitate returns.

Lawyers told AFP that deportees are being thrown into a 'legal black hole', held without charge in countries where they have no ties and few if any rights, Africanews reports. The Guardian, part of the 24-outlet Deportation Project, says lawyers describe the arrangements as a 'show of force' designed to deter unauthorised migration. Under US law people cannot be sent to countries where they face persecution, so they are deported to third countries instead — but The Guardian reports many receiving countries then deport them onward to the very place they fled. Those interviewed include an Iranian protest fugitive and a gay man from Ghana, most with no criminal records.

Most negotiations and payments were handled by the Office of Remigration, a little-known State Department division created in May 2025, headed by 41-year-old diplomat Christian Jove Ehrhardt, according to Forbidden Stories. Africanews reports Ehrhardt visited Cameroon, which signed a deportee memorandum in December and weeks later received a $400 million health programme plus $30 million for UNHCR. The Guardian reports the Democratic Republic of Congo was promised $50 million in UN funding to accept 2,000 migrants but has received only 15, and Palau agreed to take up to 75 people for $7.5 million, sending just three. Washington also used visa restrictions to pressure African countries, per AFP.

On Friday a US federal appeals court ruled the third-country removals policy unlawful, with a three-judge panel unanimously finding it violated due process by failing to give deportees adequate notice or a chance to contest removal, The Guardian reports. With payouts still flowing and flights operating, the scheme's future now hinges on the courts.