September 22, 2026
An investigation by the nonprofit organization Forbidden Stories revealed that the government allocated $410 million to be given directly to receiving countries or UN agencies to facilitate deportations. Photo: Forbidden Stories.
The United States deported more than 25,000 people under secret agreements with 35 countries to receive migrants who have no ties to those nations, according to an investigation published Monday .
Since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, the United States has signed agreements with developing countries to receive migrants who cannot be legally sent back to their places of origin.
An investigation by the non-profit organization Forbidden Stories revealed that the government allocated $410 million to be given directly to receiving countries or United Nations agencies to facilitate deportations .
At least 25,447 people were deported to third countries up to August 31, 2026 , according to data compiled by Forbidden Stories along with a consortium of international journalists.
The vast majority—some 20,000—were sent to Mexico, while the remainder was distributed among 27 other countries in Latin America, Africa, and the Pacific. Agreements were also finalized with seven additional countries.
The agreements vary, including regarding the nationalities of people who can be deported and whether people with criminal records can be accepted.
Legal limbo
An AFP investigation published earlier this year revealed that Washington is using visa bans and restrictions against African countries to pressure them into accepting deportees.
Lawyers told AFP that the deportees were being thrown into a “legal limbo”, held without charge in countries with which they have no ties and where they have few rights, if any.
Forbidden Stories detailed that 49 of the 54 African countries had been contacted to assess whether they would accept deportees from third countries.
A little-known division of the State Department, the Office of Remigration — created in May 2025 —, handled most of the negotiations and payments, according to the same source.
The office is headed by Christian Jove Ehrhardt, a 41-year-old diplomat who previously worked as a security officer.
The report details his visits to Cameroon, which in December signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. to accept deportees. A week later, it also signed a five-year healthcare assistance program worth nearly $400 million.
The following month, the State Department indicated that it would provide another $30 million to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Cameroon to “facilitate the voluntary return of refugees and combat illegal immigration.”
The first plane carrying deportees arrived in Cameroon on January 14.
Payments and agreements
The vast majority—some 20,000—were sent to Mexico, while the rest were distributed among 27 other countries in Latin America, Africa, and the Pacific. Photo: @CBP.
Other agreements include direct payments to governments. Palau, a small Pacific island nation with a population of fewer than 18,000, signed an agreement in December 2025 to accept up to 75 third-country nationals in exchange for $7.5 million. However, so far only three people have been sent under the agreement.
In Eswatini, 32 people have arrived since July 2025, out of a potential total of 160 contemplated in an agreement valued at more than $5 million. According to the investigation, the country accepted deportees with criminal records.
Of the $410 million earmarked for the agreements, internal State Department documents showed that $81 million was intended for the signatory governments.
The remainder was earmarked for aid organizations, including more than $178 million for the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) and $123 million for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) .
The agencies face criticism for their involvement, although UNHCR told Forbidden Stories that it was not part of the bilateral agreements and that the US funds were used in accordance with its mandate to strengthen asylum systems.
An IOM spokesperson told Forbidden Stories that the agency’s decisions to accept funds were based “on a single question: will our involvement improve the lives of the affected migrants? In these cases, we strongly believe that it does . ”
(With information from AFP and La Jornada)
Source: Cubadebate translation Walter Lippmann