Trump ramps up third-country US deportations despite global rights outcry

Key points

• US immigration arrests and deportations have surged since Trump took office in January 2025.
• Rights groups say over 25,000 people have faced forcible third-country deportations.
• DHS data shows more than 16,000 third-country deportations from January 2025 to August 2026.

United States immigration authorities have sharply increased detentions and deportations since January 2025, when Donald Trump became president. Trump had campaigned on a pledge to carry out the largest deportation operation in American history, and Department of Homeland Security officers now make thousands of arrests a day nationwide.

This includes people seeking asylum in the US, who are supposed to have a chance to explain dangers they might face at home. US law and treaties such as the UN Convention Against Torture bar deporting someone to a country where they will be persecuted or tortured.

What critics say

Because many detainees say they would be hurt or killed if returned home, the Trump administration has sought other places to send them, including countries where they have no cultural or legal ties. The practice, known as third-country deportation, has drawn criticism from US officials, global rights groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, and the UN.

Critics say some receiving countries have their own records of human rights abuses or are so dangerous that the US government warns its own citizens against travel there. They also say there is little to ensure these countries will give deportees a fair hearing on asylum claims, and that deportees could ultimately be sent back to face persecution.

cascade of human rights violations

— UN experts

Scale and agreements

Third-country deportations are not new, but rights groups say they were extremely rare before the Trump administration and have never been used by the US at the current scale. Some US courts have called the practice illegal, but the Supreme Court has allowed it to continue, including in a September ruling. UN experts said it was leading to a cascade of human rights violations globally.

According to the nonprofits Refugees International and Human Rights First, more than 25,000 people have been subject to forcible third-country deportations so far. DHS data shows more than 16,000 such cases between January 2025 and August 2026, the latest month available, though the figures are likely an undercount.

Deportations require approval from receiving countries, so the administration has sought agreements or informal understandings. Some countries, like El Salvador and Eswatini, have agreed to keep deportees in prisons. Others hold them temporarily or sign Asylum Cooperative Agreements, also called Safe Third Country Agreements. Many deportees do not know where they are being sent and lack documents like passports or ID cards.

The list of destination countries has grown as the US offers financial aid or business and visa concessions. Liberia has agreed to take up to 1,200 deportees, and the US said it would extend certain Liberian visas from 12 to 36 months and committed $124m for health services. Cameroon, which agreed in December 2025 to take third-country nationals, has been promised $30m for UN refugee work and $400m over coming years for health services.