US has deported 25,000 to third countries under secretive deals

The United States deported more than 25,000 people to countries with which they had no known ties under agreements signed with 35 nations, an investigation by Forbidden Stories and international media partners has found.

The migrants were sent to third countries after the US was unable to deport them to their countries of origin. The US government has set aside $410 million for the arrangements, including payments to receiving governments and UN agencies involved in the transfers.

According to data compiled by the investigation, at least 25,447 people had been deported to third countries by August 31. Around 20,000 were sent to Mexico, while the remaining migrants were transferred to 27 other countries in Latin America, Africa and the Pacific.


The US has finalised agreements with seven additional countries, the investigation said.

Deals vary by country

The agreements differ in their terms, including the nationalities that can be accepted and whether countries will take migrants with criminal records.

An AFP investigation earlier this year found that the US used visa bans and other restrictions against African countries to pressure them into accepting deportees.

Lawyers told AFP that some deportees had been placed in a “legal black hole”. They were held without charge in countries where they had no links and had limited access to legal rights.

Forbidden Stories said the US had approached 49 of Africa’s 54 countries about accepting migrants deported from the US.

State Department office led negotiations

Most of the negotiations and payments were handled by the State Department’s Office of Remigration, a little-known division created in May 2025, according to the investigation.

The office is headed by Christian Jove Ehrhardt, a 41-year-old diplomat who previously worked as a security officer.

The report examined his visits to Cameroon, which signed a memorandum of understanding with the US in December to accept deportees. A week later, Cameroon signed a five-year health assistance programme with the US worth nearly $400 million.

The State Department later announced an additional $30 million for the UN Refugee Agency in Cameroon to “facilitate the voluntary return of refugees and combat illegal immigration.”

The first plane carrying deportees arrived in Cameroon on January 14.

Governments and UN agencies received funds

Some agreements included direct payments to governments.

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 return for $7.5 million. So far, three people have been sent there under the agreement.

Eswatini received 32 people from July 2025, out of a possible 160, under a deal worth more than $5 million. The country also accepted migrants with criminal records, the investigation found.

State Department records showed that $81 million of the planned $410 million was earmarked for governments that signed the agreements.

The remaining funds were intended for aid organisations, including more than $178 million for the International Organisation for Migration and $123 million for the UN Refugee Agency.

The involvement of the UN agencies has drawn criticism. UNHCR told Forbidden Stories that it was not a party to the bilateral agreements and that the US funding was being used to strengthen asylum systems in line with its mandate.

An IOM spokesperson told the investigation that the agency decided whether to accept funding based on “a single question: whether our engagement will improve the lives of the migrants affected. In these instances, we believe strongly it does.”