Third-Country Deportations: Another Cruel Piece of President Trump’s Anti-Immigrant Agenda

Editor’s Note: The following article was originally published by Amy Fischer from Amnesty International on September 18, 2025.

Imagine fleeing from your home to the U.S. in search of safety, only to be forcefully uprooted again. Or imagine living in the United States for decades, putting down roots and building a life for you and your family, only to be forcibly separated and sent somewhere new you’ve never been. Ripped from your community and all the efforts you are making to build a life, you are told you are being deported, not back to your home country, but somewhere you’ve never been. A place where you don’t know the language or culture, you have no family, no support, and no promise of safety. That fear is real for thousands of people subjected to third-country deportations, a brutal practice the Trump Administration is using as part of their dehumanizing mass deportation machine and anti-immigrant agenda.  

Ripping people from their communities and forcibly removing them to countries they’re not from, without a warning, a fair hearing, or a safety assurance, is a moral failure and a violation of human rights.  

WHAT ARE THIRD-COUNTRY DEPORTATIONS?  

Third-country deportations involve removing people from the U.S., not to their country of origin, but to a different country, often without clear agreements, oversight, or concern for the person’s safety. As of July, the U.S. government has deported more than 8,100 people to countries that are not their home country. 

MAJOR CONCERNS FROM A HUMAN RIGHTS PERSPECTIVE

• Denial of Due Process: People are deported without a fair hearing, access to legal counsel, or an opportunity to present their fears of persecution or harm before being forcibly removed. This is illegal under both U.S. and international law.
• Risk of Refoulement: Without due process and individualized hearings, the U.S. is risking sending people to countries where they may face serious harm, including torture, persecution, or death. This practice, known as refoulement, is prohibited under international law, including the 1951 Refugee Convention and the Convention Against Torture. In some cases, people may be deported from the third country to yet another country (called chain deportations), where they could be put into danger.
• Unsafe Conditions: According to reporting by The Intercept, the U.S. has made arrangements to send people to at least 13 nations so far, 12 of which have been noted in U.S. State Department human rights reports for significant human rights abuses. For example, people have been deported to Eswatini, South Sudan, Panama, and Costa Rica. More than 200 Venezuelans were deported to El Salvador, where they were detained in the notorious prison, CEC–OT. The majority of third-country deportations have been to Mexico, where over 5,700 non-Mexicans have been sent. Guantanamo Bay has also been used to hold people who are being deported to third countries, which raises additional concerns about secrecy and denial of legal access.  
• Lack of Transparency: Many of these deportations are carried out with little public knowledge or oversight, undermining accountability. 
• Threatening third-country removal to encourage deportations: There have been widespread reports of ICE agents using the threat of sending people to third countries in order to pressure them to sign and accept deportations to their home countries. ICE agents are encouraging people to abandon their asylum claims, forcing people to choose between deportation back to the violence they once fled in their home country or unknown dangers in foreign countries they have never been to. 
• Weaponization of the Law: The Trump administration has used the Alien Enemies Act, an archaic and problematic law, to justify these actions in some cases. It has mischaracterized entire populations, for example, labeling Venezuelans as gang-affiliated. 

THE U.S. IS VIOLATING ITS HUMAN RIGHTS OBLIGATIONS 

Third-country deportations are part of President Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda used to intimidate, silence, deport, and disappear immigrants. Like the ICE raids and the targeting of immigrant student protestors and the creation of inhumane detention centers like Alligator Alcatraz, the cruelty is by design. It is meant to force immigrants to live in fear, avoiding hospitals, schools, and even work and courtrooms, filled with fear that they’ll be arrested and deported to an unfamiliar and possibly unsafe place. These cruel practices weaken all of our communities. 

TO END THIS CRISIS, THE U.S. MUST: 

1. End deportations without due process: Every person deserves a fair chance to present their case before a judge. The U.S. must also establish a right to counsel in immigration court, so that no one has to fight a life-or-death legal battle without representation. 
2. Stop third-country removals without guarantees: No one should be sent to a country unless it is safe and its government is capable of protecting their rights. 
3. Restore transparency and accountability: The public deserves to know how these decisions are made, and legal systems must be respected. 
4. Change the system: We must reject these practices altogether and work to build an immigration system rooted in dignity, safety, and justice.

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