The United States has deported more than 25,000 migrants to countries with which they have no previous ties under a series of controversial and largely undisclosed agreements, according to a new international investigation.
The investigation, coordinated by Forbidden Stories and conducted with a consortium of international media organisations, found that at least 25,447 people had been deported to third countries as of August 31, 2026.
The arrangements expanded after President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025, with the US government reaching agreements with countries willing to accept migrants who could not legally be returned directly to their countries of origin.
According to the investigation, the United States has reached agreements with 35 countries, while at least 28 countries had already received deportees.
About 20,000 of those deported were sent to Mexico, while thousands of others were transferred to countries across Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and other regions despite having no established connection to those destinations.
The US government has reportedly earmarked about $410 million to support the arrangements, with funds going either directly to receiving governments or through international organisations involved in facilitating the transfers.
The agreements vary from country to country, including the nationalities that can be accepted and whether people with criminal records are eligible for transfer.
Some of the arrangements have involved countries that previously had little or no connection to the migrants being sent there. The investigation also found that certain agreements were negotiated with limited public disclosure of their terms.
The policy has drawn criticism from immigration and human rights organisations, which have raised concerns about the treatment and legal protections available to migrants transferred to unfamiliar countries.
Meanwhile, a US federal appeals court recently ruled that the Trump administration could not rapidly deport migrants to third countries without first giving them an opportunity to raise concerns about potential dangers they could face there. The court largely upheld an earlier ruling that found the policy unlawful.
The US administration has defended its immigration enforcement programme, arguing that it targets people who are subject to removal orders and, in some cases, cannot be returned to their countries of origin.
The latest investigation provides one of the most detailed accounts so far of the scale of the US third-country deportation programme, which has become a significant part of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement strategy.
