US deported over 25,000 people to third countries under secretive agreements, report finds

An international investigation reveals the United States has deported over 25,000 migrants to third countries under secretive agreements backed by $410 million in funding. Meanwhile, the U.S. has returned hundreds of people to gang-ravaged Haiti following the termination of their Temporary Protected Status. Human Rights Watch reports that these deportees face severe hardships, lack of legal access, and extreme security risks in Haiti, where gang violence has claimed over 19,000 lives since 2023.

Overview of Third-Country Deportations

• ▪The United States has sent approximately 20,000 third-country deportees to Mexico, while the remaining deportees were sent to 27 other countries across Latin America, Africa, and the Pacific.
• ▪The United States has deported at least 25,447 people to third countries under secretive agreements with 35 nations to accept migrants with no ties to those countries, according to an investigation by Forbidden Stories.
• ▪The Trump administration has pledged at least $410 million to secure third-country deportation agreements, with $81 million earmarked for signatory governments and the remainder allocated to aid organizations.
• ▪The State Department's Office of Remigration, created in May 2025 and led by diplomat Christian Jove Ehrhardt, handles the negotiations and payments for the $410 million third-country deportation agreements with 35 countries

Deportation Agreements with Cameroon and Palau

• ▪Palau signed an agreement in December 2025 to accept up to 75 third-country nationals in return for $7.5 million, though only three people have been sent under the deal as of August 31, 2026.
• ▪Cameroon signed a memorandum of understanding with the United States in December 2025 to accept deportees, alongside a five-year, $400 million health assistance program and $30 million in UN funding.

Haitian Deportations and Temporary Protected Status

• ▪The United States has deported more than 470 people to Haiti since July 2026, including individuals who lost their Temporary Protected Status following a June Supreme Court decision allowing the Trump administration to end that status
• ▪The U.S. House of Representatives voted 220-207 in April to extend Temporary Protected Status for Haitians until 2029, but that legislation never came up for a vote in the Senate

Deportation Arrivals in Cap-Haitien

• ▪Deportation flights from the United States are landing in Cap-Haitien because the main international airport in Port-au-Prince is considered too dangerous due to persistent gang violence.
• ▪Haitian migration officials in Cap-Haitien provide arriving deportees with a meal, a drink, and 10,000 gourdes, which is equivalent to about $77 in cash.

Treatment of Haitian Deportees in US Custody

• ▪Deportees interviewed by Human Rights Watch reported that U.S. authorities did not allow them to contact lawyers or appear before an immigration judge, and failed to return their official documents and money upon arrival in Haiti
• ▪Haitian deportees interviewed by Human Rights Watch reported being held for hours without food or water and days without bathing in U.S. immigration detention facilities.
• ▪U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement stated that claims of subprime conditions at ICE detention centers are false, asserting that detainees receive three meals a day, clean water, showers, and toiletries

Security and Humanitarian Crisis in Haiti

• ▪At least 19,380 people were reported killed across Haiti between January 2023 and June 2026, according to data released by the United Nations.
• ▪More than 253,000 Haitian children aged six months to 5 years are expected to suffer acute malnutrition in upcoming months, according to a report by Haiti's government and UNICEF.
• ▪Armed gangs control an estimated 70% of Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, and have expanded their violent operations into at least five regions, including the Artibonite region.

Legal Challenges

• ▪A U.S. federal appeals court ruled that the Trump administration's third-country removals policy was unlawful because it violated due process, though the Department of Homeland Security stated the third-country removals policy continues
• ▪The U.S. Supreme Court decided that the Trump administration's third-country removals policy could resume while a legal challenge to that policy played out, ending a temporary pause on deportation flights

Debatable claims

• ▪The US should stop deporting migrants to unrelated third countries
• ▪UN agencies should refuse US funding for third-country deportations
• ▪The United States should suspend all deportations to Haiti
• ▪Congress should reinstate Temporary Protected Status for Haitian migrants