The United States has deported more than 25,000 migrants to countries with which they have no established ties under agreements reached with 35 nations, an international investigation has revealed.
An investigation by Forbidden Stories, carried out in collaboration with a consortium of international journalists, found that at least 25,447 people had been sent to third countries as of August 31, 2026.
The deportations occurred after President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, as the US government expanded arrangements with developing countries to receive migrants who could not legally be returned to their countries of origin.
The investigation reported that the US government had allocated approximately $410 million to support the arrangements. The money was reportedly paid either directly to governments receiving the deportees or through United Nations agencies involved in facilitating the transfers.
Mexico received the largest number of deportees, with about 20,000 people reportedly sent there. Thousands of others were transferred to 27 countries across Latin America, Africa and the Pacific.
Forbidden Stories also reported that agreements had been concluded with seven additional countries, bringing the number of countries involved in the arrangements to 35.
The terms of the agreements vary from country to country. Differences include the nationalities that can be transferred and whether countries are willing to accept migrants with criminal records.
An earlier investigation by AFP found that Washington had used measures including visa restrictions and bans against some African countries as leverage to encourage them to accept migrants deported from the United States despite having no connection to those countries.
The arrangements have also raised concerns among legal experts and human rights advocates.
Lawyers cited by AFP said some deportees could find themselves in what they described as a “legal black hole”, where they are detained in countries with which they have no personal or legal ties and may have limited access to legal protections.
The findings have renewed scrutiny of the US third-country deportation policy and the agreements being negotiated with countries outside migrants’ places of origin.
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