The United States has deported more than 25,000 migrants to countries with which they have no ties under secretive agreements involving 35 nations, according to an investigation published Monday by Forbidden Stories.
The investigation found that since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, the US administration has negotiated agreements with developing countries to accept migrants who cannot legally be deported to their countries of origin.
Washington has reportedly earmarked $410 million for the arrangements, with funds being paid directly to receiving governments or United Nations agencies facilitating the transfers.
Data compiled by Forbidden Stories in collaboration with an international consortium of journalists showed that at least 25,447 people had been deported to third countries by August 31, 2026.
Approximately 20,000 were sent to Mexico, while the rest were transferred to 27 other countries across Latin America, Africa and the Pacific. Agreements have also been finalised with seven additional countries.
The terms of the agreements vary, including the nationalities of migrants eligible for deportation and whether countries will accept individuals with criminal records. An earlier AFP investigation found that Washington had used visa bans and other restrictions against African countries to pressure them into accepting deportees.
Lawyers told AFP that some deportees were being placed in a “legal black hole,” detained without charge in countries where they had no personal ties and limited legal protections. Forbidden Stories reported that 49 of Africa’s 54 countries had been approached about accepting migrants from third countries.
Most negotiations and payments have reportedly been handled by the State Department’s Office of Remigration, a little-known division established in May 2025.
The office is headed by Christian Jove Ehrhardt, a 41-year-old diplomat who previously worked as a security officer.
The investigation detailed Ehrhardt’s visits to Cameroon, which signed a memorandum of understanding with the United States in December to accept deportees. A week later, Cameroon signed a five-year health assistance programme worth nearly $400 million.
The following month, the State Department announced an additional $30 million for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Cameroon to support the voluntary return of refugees and combat illegal immigration.
The first plane carrying deportees arrived in Cameroon on January 14.
Under another agreement, Palau, a Pacific island nation with a population of fewer than 18,000 people, agreed in December 2025 to accept up to 75 third-country nationals in exchange for $7.5 million.
However, only three people have so far been transferred under the deal.
In Eswatini, 32 people have arrived since July 2025 out of a possible 160 under an agreement valued at more than $5 million. The investigation found that the country had accepted deportees with criminal records.
Of the $410 million allocated for the agreements, internal State Department records showed that $81 million was earmarked for signatory governments.
The remaining funds were intended for aid organisations, including more than $178 million for the International Organisation for Migration and $123 million for UNHCR.
The involvement of the UN agencies has attracted criticism. UNHCR told Forbidden Stories that it was not a party to the bilateral agreements and that US funding was being used in line with its mandate to strengthen asylum systems.
The International Organisation for Migration said its decision to accept funding was based on whether its involvement would improve the lives of affected migrants, adding that it believed this was the case in the agreements under review.
