The United States is orchestrating a vast, secretive operation to offload migrants by paying developing nations to accept them, a bombshell investigation revealed on Monday. Since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, Washington has inked deals with 35 countries to take in individuals who cannot be legally sent back to their home countries. And the price tag? A cool $410 million, slated for direct payments to these nations or to UN agencies facilitating the returns.
By the end of August 2026, a staggering 25,447 people had already been sent to these third countries. While the majority, around 20,000, landed in Mexico, the rest have been scattered across 27 other nations in Latin America, Africa, and the Pacific. Seven more countries are reportedly on the verge of signing similar agreements, expanding this complex web of deportation deals.
These agreements aren't one-size-fits-all. They vary wildly, specifying which nationalities can be deported and even whether individuals with criminal records are fair game. Lawyers involved have slammed these arrangements, telling AFP that deportees are being plunged into a "legal black hole," held without charge in places where they have no connections and virtually no rights.
The US State Department has established a little-known division, the Office of Remigration, specifically to handle these negotiations and payments. Created in May 2025, it’s headed by Christian Jove Ehrhardt, a 41-year-old diplomat who previously worked as a security officer. His role involves traveling the globe to secure these controversial pacts.
One such deal saw Cameroon sign a memorandum of understanding in December 2025 to accept deportees. A week later, the nation also inked a five-year health assistance program worth nearly $400 million. Soon after, the State Department announced it would provide an additional $30 million to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Cameroon, ostensibly to "facilitate the voluntary return of refugees and combat illegal immigration."
Yet, direct payments to governments are also a feature. Palau, a tiny Pacific island nation with fewer than 18,000 people, agreed in December 2025 to host up to 75 third-country nationals for a cool $7.5 million. However, reports indicate only three individuals have been sent there so far under this pact.
In Eswatini, over $5 million was agreed for the potential reception of 160 deportees, with 32 arriving since July 2025. Notably, this agreement allows for the acceptance of deportees with criminal records, according to the investigation.
Of the $410 million earmarked for these deals, internal State Department documents reveal that $81 million is designated for the signatory governments themselves. The bulk of the remaining funds, over $178 million, is allocated to the UN’s International Organisation for Migration (IOM), and another $123 million to UNHCR.
These UN agencies have not been without their critics regarding their involvement. UNHCR, however, stated it is not a party to the bilateral agreements and that US funding is being used strictly within its mandate to bolster asylum systems. An IOM spokesperson echoed this sentiment, explaining the agency's decision to accept funds hinges on whether it improves the lives of affected migrants, believing in this case, it does.
Earlier this year, an AFP investigation found that Washington has also been using visa bans and other restrictions on African countries as leverage to pressure them into accepting these deportees, showing the aggressive tactics employed. Reports suggest that 49 of Africa's 54 countries have been approached about taking in third-country deportees, underscoring the continent's significant role in this US policy.