US Spends $410m on Third-Country Deportation Deals Under Trump

The United States government has deported at least 25,447 migrants to 28 countries, including nations with which some of the migrants had no previous ties, under agreements reached by the Donald Trump administration between January 2025 and August 2026.

An investigation by Forbidden Stories and a consortium of international journalists, published on Monday, found that the US had allocated $410 million to support the deportation arrangements.

The funds were earmarked for governments receiving the migrants and United Nations agencies involved in facilitating the transfers.

According to the investigation, about 20,000 migrants were sent to Mexico, while thousands of others were transferred to countries across Latin America, Africa and the Pacific. Agreements had also been finalised with seven additional countries.

The arrangements vary in their terms, including the nationalities of migrants accepted and whether countries would take deportees with criminal records.

Rights groups and lawyers have criticised the policy, expressing concerns about the treatment and legal protection of migrants sent to countries where they have no established connections.

An earlier AFP investigation found that the Trump administration used visa restrictions and bans against African countries as leverage to pressure them into accepting deportees.

Some migrants were reportedly held without charge in countries where they had limited legal protections, a situation described as a “legal black hole”.

AFP reported that 49 of Africa’s 54 countries had been approached about accepting migrants deported from the US.

Most of the negotiations and payments were reportedly handled by the State Department’s Office of Remigration, a division established in May 2025 and headed by diplomat Christian Jove Ehrhardt.

Cameroon was among the countries involved in the arrangements. The investigation found that the country signed a memorandum of understanding with the US in December to accept deportees, followed by a five-year health assistance programme worth nearly $400 million.

The US State Department later announced an additional $30 million for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Cameroon to support voluntary refugee returns and efforts to tackle illegal immigration.

The first aircraft carrying deportees under the arrangement arrived in Cameroon on January 14, according to the report.

Other countries have received migrants under agreements involving direct financial payments.

Palau, a Pacific island nation with a population of fewer than 18,000, agreed in December 2025 to accept up to 75 third-country nationals in exchange for $7.5 million.

However, only three people had been transferred under the agreement at the time of the investigation.

In Eswatini, 32 migrants had arrived since July 2025 out of a possible 160 under an agreement valued at more than $5 million. The country also accepted deportees with criminal records, according to the investigation.

Internal State Department records reviewed by Forbidden Stories showed that $81 million of the planned $410 million was allocated to governments that signed the agreements.

More than $178 million was earmarked for the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), while $123 million was designated for UNHCR.

The involvement of the UN agencies has attracted criticism from rights advocates.

UNHCR told Forbidden Stories that it was not a party to the bilateral agreements and that the US funding was being used in line with its mandate to strengthen asylum systems.

An IOM spokesperson said the agency’s decision to accept funding was based on whether its involvement would improve the lives of affected migrants, adding that it believed its participation in the arrangements would do so.

The deportation agreements have heightened concerns over the legal status, protection and welfare of migrants transferred to countries where they have no established ties.

The investigation highlights the Trump administration’s expanding use of third-country deportation arrangements and the financial commitments supporting the policy.

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