The administration of US President Donald Trump has reached agreements with a number of African countries to accept migrants being deported from the United States.
This is stated in an international investigation, France24 reports.
Over several months, journalists examined arrangements between Washington and “third countries” that agreed to take in people detained by the US immigration enforcement agency ICE.
According to the investigation, since January 2025 more than 25,400 foreign nationals have been deported from the US to countries most of them had never previously been to.
As the journalists note, some of those deported had legal protection against being returned to their countries of origin, as they could face persecution there.
To circumvent these restrictions, the Trump administration reached agreements with 35 “third countries” to accept deportees.
At the same time, the terms of the agreements remain unknown. Negotiations between Washington and the governments of the relevant states largely took place behind closed doors.
In Africa in particular, the US concluded 12 such agreements, covering Ghana, Cameroon and Eswatini.
As is known, deportees were flown to Ghana on 6 November 2025. The agreement between Eswatini and the US provided for accepting 160 migrants convicted in the States. Their transfer to Eswatini sparked protests in the country.
Some deportees, after arriving in third countries, found themselves in limbo and may face detention, ill-treatment, or the risk of being sent on to the states they originally left.
- In August, President Donald Trump’s administration suspended the processing of all applications for US immigration visas. The State Department is tightening restrictions for applicants who may become dependent on the state.
- The US also announced plans to revoke the visas of asylum seekers who initially entered the country for tourism or business. This could affect nearly 200,000 people currently seeking asylum and become the largest mass visa revocation in US history.
- In June, the US Senate backed a bill providing the Department of Homeland Security with an additional $70bn for immigration enforcement measures.
- It was previously reported that the Trump administration had developed a plan to deport 1 million migrants during the president’s first year in office.
- The US Department of Homeland Security has begun searching for a company that will service a fleet of government aircraft to carry out deportations.
- During the election campaign, Trump said he wanted to deport “millions” of immigrants, and Vice President J.D. Vance previously said they could start with 1 million. But the real figures show it is not that straightforward. Most of the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the States are entitled to a hearing in an immigration court before they can be deported.