The US deported more than 25,000 people to countries they had no ties to under agreements struck by the Trump administration, according to an investigation by Forbidden Stories.
Since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, his administration has reached agreements with 35 countries to accept so-called “third-country nationals” – migrants deported from the US to countries other than their countries of origin. Details of the agreements have largely remained undisclosed.
As of Aug. 31, at least 25,447 people had been sent to 28 countries under the policy, according to the investigation, which analyzed information from multiple sources, including migrant rights organizations. The US government has not publicly disclosed the figures.
The investigation, conducted by a consortium of 72 journalists from 26 media organizations in 15 countries, included more than 100 interviews with deportees, government officials, lawyers and experts.
Internal State Department records obtained by The Washington Post, one of the consortium members, showed that the US planned to spend at least $410 million as part of efforts to secure agreements with third countries.
Of that amount, $81 million was earmarked for governments that signed the agreements, while more than $178 million was allocated to the International Organization for Migration and over $123 million to the UN refugee agency.
The agreements are largely negotiated by the State Department’s Office of Remigration, a division established in 2025 as part of an overhaul of the department.
The White House, responding to the investigation, said the migrants sent to third countries are people whose home countries refuse to accept them, including those with removal orders who have asked not to be returned to their countries of origin.
A US federal appeals court on Sept. 18 ordered the third-country removals halted, ruling that migrants had not been given sufficient notice or an opportunity to challenge their deportation.
