What is Trump’s third-country deportation policy and who does it target?

Key questions answered about scheme that has sent more than 25,000 people to countries that are not their own

The Deportation Project: Inside the Trump administration's secret deals to expel people worldwide - Forbidden Stories

72 journalists, 26 news organizations, 15 countries: a global investigation into the Trump administration’s secret third-country deportation system

Third Country Deportation Watch

Monitoring the human cost of the U.S. government’s forced third country transfer agreements.

Deportation Data Project

The Deportation Data Project obtains, posts, and analyzes internal U.S. government immigration enforcement data via public records litigation.

“You Have Arrived in Hell”

The 81-page report, “‘You Have Arrived in Hell’: Torture and Other Abuses Against Venezuelans in El Salvador’s Mega Prison,” provides a comprehensive account of the treatment of these people in El Salvador. In March and April 2025, the US government sent 252 Venezuelans, including dozens of asylum seekers, to the Center for Terrorism Confinement (Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo, CECOT) mega prison in El Salvador, despite credible reports of serious human rights abuses in El Salvador’s prisons. The Venezuelans were subject to refoulement—being sent to where they would face torture or persecution—arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture, inhumane detention conditions and, in some cases, sexual violence.

Man’s Deportation to Somalia Sets Off a Wave of Concern Over Safety (Published 2006)

Deportation of Mohamad Rasheed Jama to Somalia sets off concern over repatriations to dangerous countries; Jama was deported because of 1989 conviction for possession of unlicensed gun; Supreme Court removed barriers to deportations to Somalia in 2005 even though country lacks central functioning government; issue arises of what United States should do with deportable immigrants who can neither be detained indefinitely nor safely repatriated; photo (M)

Inside CECOT

"Inside CECOT" is a segment that was originally intended to be broadcast on the December 21, 2025, episode of 60 Minutes, a television news magazine from CBS News. Presented by correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi, the segment discusses the experiences of detainees at the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a maximum security prison in El Salvador used to confine Venezuelan migrants who had been deported from the US by the Trump administration in early 2025. The segment, which contains interviews with former detainees and photographic evidence detailing systematic torture at the facility, independently corroborates earlier conclusions made by Human Rights Watch. Reports by former detainees and journalists have described "El Salvador's CECOT" as a "living nightmare" and "hellscape" due to the extremely harsh conditions and high-tech surveillance present in the facility.

Immigrant Deportations: Trends and Impacts | Econofact

Research on previous episodes of increased immigration enforcement sheds light on the impact deportations can have on labor markets, crime, and civic life.

Banished to alien lands: Trump’s secret deportation deals

After a plane journey in shackles, an Iranian woman found herself in the middle of Africa in a country she did not know existed. She is one of thousands deported from the US on the back of shadowy deals made with dozens of countries. An in-depth investigation reveals the ‘show of force’ costing American taxpayers millions

Lawyers see imminent decision in third-country deportation case

The forthcoming ruling could reshape the Trump administration’s third-country deportation program.

The Deportation Project : Révélations sur les expulsions de masse de l'administration Trump - Forbidden Stories

72 journalistes, 26 médias, 15 pays : une enquête internationale sur les expulsions de masse de l'administration Trump

One Year of Immigration Enforcement Under the Second Trump Administration – Deportation Data Project

The story of immigration enforcement in the first year-plus of the second Trump administration is a story of a drastic increase in interior immigration enforcement: enforcement that occurs within the United States, usually far from the border. Interior deportations surged to five times their pre-inauguration level (see Figure 1).1

Deportation Data Project

The Deportation Data Project at UC Berkeley and UCLA uses public records litigation to obtain, post and analyze U.S. government immigration enforcement data.

EXCLUSIVE: Cuban Asylum Seeker Deported to Africa Without ID, Money, or Cell Phone ~ L.A. TACO

Around 80 detainees were forcibly deported to multiple African countries including the Central African Republic which the U.S. strongly advises against visiting due to potential danger. L.A. TACO spoke with 37-year-old Aristides Fernandez Garcia, who has no idea what the future looks like after his 90-day visa expires.