Investigation: U.S. Sent More Than 25,000 Migrants to Third Countries Through Secret Agreements

A probe released Monday has found that the United States deported more than 25,000 individuals under confidential arrangements with 35 countries that agreed to accept migrants who have no connection to those nations. Forbidden Stories conducted the investigation alongside a group of international journalists. It determined that by Aug. 31, 2026, at least 25,447 people had been sent to third countries. These removals have occurred since President Donald Trump took office again in January 2025. During that period, Washington negotiated deals with developing nations to take in migrants who could not be lawfully returned to their home countries. The investigation states that the U.S. has allocated roughly $410 million for these arrangements. The money has gone either straight to recipient governments or via United Nations agencies that help carry out the returns. Mexico received approximately 20,000 of those deported. Thousands of others were sent to 27 countries in Latin America, Africa and the Pacific. Forbidden Stories also reported that agreements have been completed with seven more countries. The conditions vary by country, including which nationalities may be moved and whether individuals with criminal histories are eligible for acceptance. An earlier AFP investigation said Washington employed visa bans and other punitive measures aimed at African nations to push them to take third-country deportees. Lawyers told AFP that certain deportees were being caught in a legal limbo, held in places where they have no ties and where their legal safeguards may be weak.