{"entries": [{"id": "antigua-and-barbuda", "country": "Antigua and Barbuda", "region": "latin-america-caribbean", "era": "current", "category": "uncategorized", "status": "signed_not_used", "status_detail": "Signed December 2025; no transfers known as of Sept 10, 2026.", "instrument": "Memorandum of Understanding (non-binding, per Prime Minister Gaston Browne)", "date_announced": "Early January 2026", "date_signed": "2025-12-19", "entry_into_force": "Not stated", "us_signatory": "Not stated", "partner_signatory": "Not stated", "text_published": "yes", "text_url": "https://foia.state.gov/FOIALIBRARY/QNI2.aspx", "text_note": "MOU posted in the State Department FOIA Library's Qualifying Non-Binding Instruments collection (Case Act #2026-0001QN, January 2026 monthly ZIP), disclosed March 2026.", "consideration": "No payment agreed in the MOU. In a July 2026 parliamentary White Paper debate, PM Browne suggested the US provide approximately $75,000 per third-country national accepted — a counterproposal ask, not an agreed term. Context: US visa restrictions / Visa Bond Program pressure; Browne said the restrictions were 'issued probably to bully us into signing.'", "consideration_disclosed": false, "scope": "Up to 10 'noncriminal refugees' per year per early reporting and PM comments; the MOU text itself states no number or nationalities. July 2026 counterproposal: up to 10 in 2026, excluding people in expedited removal or with pending asylum claims.", "removals": "No transfers known to have occurred (as of Sept 10, 2026).", "removals_number": 0, "assurances": "Antigua and Barbuda assured it would treat transferred nationals in accordance with international legal obligations and would not persecute them or transfer them to a place of persecution or torture.", "legal_challenges": "No known US litigation. Parliamentary White Paper debate, July 2026; CARICOM raised concerns in July 2026.", "notes": "Party to the 1951 Refugee Convention / 1967 Protocol but has no refugee act or formal asylum system; claims handled ad hoc.", "sources": [{"label": "Third Country Deportation Watch — Antigua and Barbuda", "url": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/antigua-and-barbuda"}, {"label": "State Dept FOIA Library — Qualifying Non-Binding Instruments", "url": "https://foia.state.gov/FOIALIBRARY/QNI2.aspx"}], "flights": "No ICE Flight Monitor confirmed transfer flight to Antigua and Barbuda in the published appendix (Jan 2025–Mar 2026).", "foia": "Text published via the Case Act channel (State FOIA Library QNI collection), not via FOIA. No FOIA request for the text located in the public filings searched.", "leverage": null, "shadow": null}, {"id": "bahamas", "country": "Bahamas", "region": "latin-america-caribbean", "era": "current", "category": "uncategorized", "status": "announced_unconfirmed", "status_detail": "Agreement reported by trackers; signature unconfirmed. The tracker itself lists Agreement / Date / Transfers as 'Unknown.' The Bahamas initially refused, then continued to negotiate.", "instrument": "Unknown", "date_announced": "Not stated (PM Phillip Davis 'firmly rejected' the plan in December 2024)", "date_signed": "Unknown", "entry_into_force": "Not stated", "us_signatory": "Not stated", "partner_signatory": "Not stated", "text_published": "unknown", "text_url": "", "text_note": "No instrument has been located in the State Case Act (QNI/IRIA) lists swept through July 2026 or in the Federal Register.", "consideration": "Not disclosed. Pressure documented: pause on immigrant visa issuance for Bahamian nationals from January 2026; tariffs imposed July 2026 on Bahamian exports.", "consideration_disclosed": false, "scope": "Not stated.", "removals": "Unknown.", "removals_number": null, "assurances": "Not stated.", "legal_challenges": "No known litigation at this time.", "notes": "Acceded to the 1951 Convention / 1967 Protocol in 1993; no national refugee status determination legislation; ad hoc procedure since 2007.", "sources": [{"label": "Third Country Deportation Watch — Bahamas", "url": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/bahamas"}], "flights": "No confirmed third-country transfer flight documented.", "foia": "No instrument located; no FOIA production found. Documented gap.", "leverage": null, "shadow": null}, {"id": "belize", "country": "Belize", "region": "latin-america-caribbean", "era": "current", "category": "aca", "status": "in_effect", "status_detail": "In effect. Signed Oct 20, 2025; ratified by Belize's Senate 8–5 on Nov 12, 2025; entered into force April 15, 2026 (State IRIA listing). First transfer flight July 10, 2026.", "instrument": "Asylum Cooperative Agreement (ACA), called a 'Safe Third Country Agreement' by the US", "date_announced": "2025-10-20", "date_signed": "2025-10-20", "entry_into_force": "2026-04-15", "us_signatory": "Not stated on tracker; agreement signed at Belmopan", "partner_signatory": "Belize Ministry of Foreign Affairs (signing release, Oct 20, 2025)", "text_published": "yes", "text_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/03/12/2026-04793/agreement-between-the-government-of-the-united-states-of-america-and-the-government-of-belize-for", "text_note": "Full text published by DHS in the Federal Register, 91 FR 12204 (Mar 12, 2026; public inspection Mar 11). Case Act #2025-0142.", "consideration": "The text provides only that the US 'shall endeavour' to provide financial and technical assistance on request — no amount. Context: a $125M Millennium Challenge Compact was signed in Sept 2024 (education/power); senators speculated MCC money was at stake after the MCC shutdown. Amount paid under the ACA: not disclosed.", "consideration_disclosed": false, "scope": "Asylum seekers who are nationals of Central American countries (except Guatemala) or CARICOM states. Unaccompanied minors and Belizean nationals/residents are excluded by the text. The text contains NO numerical cap: the '10 people per year' figure is the Belize government's stated position (Foreign Minister Fonseca), confirmed by Amandala's reading of the text — it is not a textual term. Initial term: 2 years.", "removals": "8 people on 2 flights: July 10, 2026 (1 Haitian asylum seeker) and July 30, 2026 (7 people, mainly Haitians). Separately, 25 asylum seekers had been pretermitted for removal to Belize under the ACA through June 2026 (EOIR data via Mobile Pathways).", "removals_number": 8, "assurances": "ACA framework: Belize to examine protection requests; non-return to origin before a final protection decision.", "legal_challenges": "Challenged in U.T. v. Bondi (US federal court challenge to the ACAs). Senate debate in Belize was heated; opposition argued the deal was rushed without consultation.", "notes": "Belize's Senate ratification (8–5, Nov 12, 2025) is one of the few partner-parliament ratifications in the registry. Entry into effect also required Refugees Act amendments and operating procedures.", "sources": [{"label": "Third Country Deportation Watch — Belize", "url": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/belize"}, {"label": "Federal Register — Belize ACA text, 91 FR 12204", "url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/03/12/2026-04793/agreement-between-the-government-of-the-united-states-of-america-and-the-government-of-belize-for"}, {"label": "Belize Live News — Senate ratifies, Nov 12, 2025", "url": "https://belizelivenews.com/2025/11/12/safe-third-country-agreement-passes-senate-after-heated-debate/"}, {"label": "Amandala — text read; no cap in text", "url": "https://amandala.com.bz/news/belizes-safe-third-country-migrants-limited-to-central-america-except-guatemala-and-caricom-nations/"}], "flights": "ICE Flight Monitor confirmed the first ACA transfer flight July 10, 2026 and a second July 30, 2026 — consistent with the tracker's count of 8 people.", "foia": "Text published in the Federal Register (not FOIA). Human Rights Watch filed FOIA requests to DHS and the State Department on Dec 4, 2025 covering removals to this country; as of Sept 28, 2026 neither department had provided the information (HRW, 'To Scare People').", "leverage": null, "shadow": null}, {"id": "burundi", "country": "Burundi", "region": "africa", "era": "current", "category": "uncategorized", "status": "in_effect", "status_detail": "In effect; first transfer flight August 27, 2026.", "instrument": "Exchange of diplomatic notes (US note Feb 6, 2026; Burundi note Feb 12, 2026, per HRW's reading)", "date_announced": "Not stated", "date_signed": "2026-02-12", "entry_into_force": "February 2026 (on the exchange of notes, per HRW)", "us_signatory": "Not stated", "partner_signatory": "Not stated", "text_published": "yes", "text_url": "https://foia.state.gov/FOIALIBRARY/QNI2.aspx", "text_note": "Diplomatic notes posted in the State FOIA Library QNI collection (Case Act #2026-0027QN, April 2026 ZIP), made available June 2026.", "consideration": "No direct deal payment verified in the agreement record. WaPo's internal-records dataset (June 2026) lists $12M pledged in connection with Burundi — $4M to the government + $8M to organizations (dataset-only; the registry could not corroborate it elsewhere). Context: Burundi previously resisted without $8M in US funding to IOM; a Feb 2026 five-year US–Burundi health agreement commits $129M (HIV/AIDS, malaria, surveillance) and 'may have influenced negotiations' (tracker).", "consideration_disclosed": true, "scope": "No cap in the notes as reported. Burundi stated it does not intend to accept individuals who committed violent crimes.", "removals": "12 people on one flight, Aug 27, 2026 (nationals of Cameroon, Angola, Mauritania, Sudan).", "removals_number": 12, "assurances": "Not stated beyond the scope note.", "legal_challenges": "No known litigation at this time.", "notes": "Burundi was sanctioned under INA §243(d) on June 12, 2020 (later lifted; lift date not pinned) — see the refusal map. Signed its removal arrangement Feb 12, 2026.", "sources": [{"label": "Third Country Deportation Watch — Burundi", "url": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/burundi"}, {"label": "Human Rights Watch — 'To Scare People'", "url": "https://www.hrw.org/report/2026/10/08/to-scare-people/us-expulsions-of-third-country-nationals-to-countries-in-africa"}, {"label": "State Dept FOIA Library — QNI collection", "url": "https://foia.state.gov/FOIALIBRARY/QNI2.aspx"}], "flights": "ICE Flight Monitor confirmed the first Burundi transfer flight Aug 27, 2026 (12 people).", "foia": "Text published via the Case Act channel (QNI), not via FOIA. No FOIA request for the text located.", "leverage": {"aid": "$87,159,477 — CY2023 (OECD DAC via World Bank)", "remittances": "7.80% of GDP — 2024", "trade": "1.36% — 2023 ($2,297,606 ÷ $169,530,158)", "s243d": "YES — imposed Jun 12, 2020; later lifted (lift date: gap)"}, "shadow": null}, {"id": "cabo-verde", "country": "Cabo Verde", "region": "africa", "era": "current", "category": "aca", "status": "signed_not_used", "status_detail": "Signed Nov 19, 2025 and in force the same day; no transfers known as of Sept 10, 2026.", "instrument": "Agreement on the Transfer of Nationals from Third Countries (ACA-type)", "date_announced": "Not stated", "date_signed": "2025-11-19", "entry_into_force": "2025-11-19", "us_signatory": "Not stated", "partner_signatory": "Not stated", "text_published": "yes", "text_url": "https://pengen.diewe.workers.dev/empiree/will-https-www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/64081-Cabo-Verde-Migration-and-Refugees-TIAS.pdf", "text_note": "Text published as TIAS 25-1119.1 (State Department). Case Act #2025-0145. No Federal Register notice exists.", "consideration": "Not disclosed. The text provides for US financial and technical assistance to build reception capacity (per HRW's reading); no amount. Context: in 2025 the US warned it would ban Cabo Verdean nationals if requirements were not met within 60 days; Jan 2026 brought an indefinite immigrant-visa pause and a B1/B2 visa bond requirement.", "consideration_disclosed": false, "scope": "US may propose third-country nationals who sought asylum/humanitarian protection in the US; Cabo Verde may not deport them to origin before a final protection decision there. Unaccompanied minors excluded; people with serious criminal history, gang affiliation, or terrorism convictions may not be proposed. Numbers/eligibility left to operating procedures.", "removals": "No transfers known to have occurred (Sept 10, 2026).", "removals_number": 0, "assurances": "Non-deportation to origin before a final protection decision (text).", "legal_challenges": "Challenged in U.T. v. Bondi.", "notes": "Cabo Verde's asylum system is virtually non-existent — no comprehensive legislation or institutional body.", "sources": [{"label": "Third Country Deportation Watch — Cabo Verde", "url": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/cabo-verde"}, {"label": "TIAS 25-1119.1 — agreement text (State Dept PDF via mirror)", "url": "https://pengen.diewe.workers.dev/empiree/will-https-www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/64081-Cabo-Verde-Migration-and-Refugees-TIAS.pdf"}, {"label": "Human Rights Watch — 'To Scare People'", "url": "https://www.hrw.org/report/2026/10/08/to-scare-people/us-expulsions-of-third-country-nationals-to-countries-in-africa"}], "flights": "No confirmed transfer flight documented.", "foia": "Text public via TIAS/Case Act — no FOIA needed. Cabo Verde was not among the 13 countries in HRW's Dec 4, 2025 FOIA batch.", "leverage": {"aid": "$2,077,215 — CY2023 (OECD DAC via World Bank)", "remittances": "12.31% of GDP — 2024", "trade": "2.08% — 2024 ($1,417,066 ÷ $68,245,099)", "s243d": "No §243(d) record found (2025 ban warnings and the Jan 2026 visa pause are different authorities)"}, "shadow": null}, {"id": "cameroon", "country": "Cameroon", "region": "africa", "era": "current", "category": "temporary-transfer", "status": "in_effect", "status_detail": "In effect; five transfer flights between Jan 14 and Aug 20, 2026.", "instrument": "Exchange of diplomatic notes (Dec 8, 2025, Yaoundé)", "date_announced": "Not stated", "date_signed": "2025-12-08", "entry_into_force": "Not stated", "us_signatory": "Not stated", "partner_signatory": "Not stated", "text_published": "yes", "text_url": "https://foia.state.gov/FOIALIBRARY/QNI2.aspx", "text_note": "Notes posted in the State FOIA Library QNI collection (Case Act #2026-0028QN, April 2026 ZIP), made public June 2026.", "consideration": "No direct payment to Cameroon's government documented. Documented program money: a $30M US allocation to UNHCR for its operations in Cameroon, expressly noted as 'in support of third country national arrangement (TCNA) negotiations' (HRW, citing the allocation; the State Department announced the $30M UNHCR contribution on Jan 12, 2026). NYT reported the $30M disbursement was withheld until Cameroon agreed. A separate ~$400M multi-year health programme is NOT deal consideration on the fetched record.", "consideration_disclosed": true, "scope": "Temporary transfer before onward return. The notes (per HRW's quotation) cap nothing publicly; WaPo's internal-records dataset lists a maximum of 1,000 people. The US intends to support assisted voluntary return programmes from Cameroon.", "removals": "46 people on 5 flights (Jan 14, Feb 15, Apr 29, May 27, Aug 20, 2026). NOTE: these are 2026 arrivals — an earlier research pass that dated the first flights to Jan–Feb 2025 was wrong; the flights began in January 2026. Most people on the first flights held withholding of removal or CAT protection.", "removals_number": 46, "assurances": "Cameroon undertook that transferees 'would not be subjected to persecution … or torture in the Republic of Cameroon or in any country to which [Cameroon] may further transfer them' (agreement text as quoted by HRW).", "legal_challenges": "US practice challenged in D.V.D. v. DHS. In Cameroon: on Aug 1, 2026, 36 deported individuals sued in the Administrative Court in Yaoundé, arguing the agreement was never ratified, seeking suspension of transfers, legal residence, and protection from onward removal.", "notes": "The first two flights' passengers were detained up to 3 months at a government-owned facility in Yaoundé.", "sources": [{"label": "Third Country Deportation Watch — Cameroon", "url": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/cameroon"}, {"label": "Human Rights Watch — 'To Scare People'", "url": "https://www.hrw.org/report/2026/10/08/to-scare-people/us-expulsions-of-third-country-nationals-to-countries-in-africa"}, {"label": "State Dept FOIA Library — QNI collection", "url": "https://foia.state.gov/FOIALIBRARY/QNI2.aspx"}], "flights": "ICE Flight Monitor appendix confirms transfer flights Jan 14 and Feb 15, 2026; its Aug 2026 report counts 2 more Cameroon flights that month. TCDW documents 5 flights / 46 people in total.", "foia": "Text published via the Case Act channel (QNI), not via FOIA. Cameroon was not in HRW's Dec 4, 2025 FOIA batch; HRW wrote to the Cameroonian government directly (no substantive reply as of Sept 28, 2026).", "leverage": {"aid": "$161,487,350 — CY2023 (OECD DAC via World Bank)", "remittances": "1.29% of GDP — 2024", "trade": "1.07% — 2023 ($53,353,869 ÷ $4,967,511,896)", "s243d": "No §243(d) record found"}, "shadow": "NO ANOMALY OBSERVED in reported obligations (FY2026 so far: $10.7M); no direct payment to Cameroon's government is documented anywhere. Quarterly series: unreachable."}, {"id": "central-african-republic", "country": "Central African Republic", "region": "africa", "era": "current", "category": "temporary-transfer", "status": "in_effect", "status_detail": "In effect; roughly one flight a month since June 2026.", "instrument": "Understanding regarding the transfer of third-country nationals (exchange of notes, Bangui, Mar 26 & Apr 4, 2026)", "date_announced": "Not stated", "date_signed": "2026-04-04", "entry_into_force": "Not stated", "us_signatory": "Not stated", "partner_signatory": "Not stated", "text_published": "yes", "text_url": "https://foia.state.gov/FOIALIBRARY/QNI2.aspx", "text_note": "Posted in the State FOIA Library QNI collection (Case Act #2026-0038QN, June 2026 ZIP). The Case Act listing carries State's own erratum correcting the year printed on the US note to March 26, 2026.", "consideration": "$85M in US government funding approved for IOM operations in CAR — surpassing recent IOM CAR funding by over $50M (tracker, via USASpending/CNN). WaPo's dataset specifies $85M pledged to organizations with a claimed maximum of 1,500 people; of the $85M, ~$60M is for 'community stabilization' including roads — most of the money is not deportee services.", "consideration_disclosed": true, "scope": "Temporary transfer before onward return. At least 7 days before a proposed flight, the US provides CAR a list with criminal histories and removal reasons. The agreement does NOT require the US to tell CAR whether a person was found likely to face persecution/torture if repatriated. No cap in the agreement summary; the 1,500 figure is WaPo-dataset-only.", "removals": "92 people on 3 flights (June 12: 18; July 31: 31; Aug 29: 43). Many had been granted protection against removal to their home countries.", "removals_number": 92, "assurances": "No assurance clause stated in the tracker summary.", "legal_challenges": "No known litigation at this time.", "notes": "The State Department rates CAR Level 4: Do Not Travel.", "sources": [{"label": "Third Country Deportation Watch — Central African Republic", "url": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/central-african-republic"}, {"label": "State Dept FOIA Library — QNI collection", "url": "https://foia.state.gov/FOIALIBRARY/QNI2.aspx"}, {"label": "WaPo investigation — internal records (direct)", "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2026/09/21/how-trump-turned-refugee-bureau-into-410-million-deportation-operation/"}], "flights": "ICE Flight Monitor confirmed CAR transfer flights from June 2026 (one multi-stop Aug 2026 flight ran CAR → Sierra Leone → Ghana).", "foia": "Text published via the Case Act channel (QNI), not via FOIA. No FOIA request for the text located (benign: text posted).", "leverage": {"aid": "$124,425,301 — CY2023 (OECD DAC via World Bank)", "remittances": "MISSING — the World Bank series is null for every year 2000–2024", "trade": "2.29% — 2024 Comtrade pair ($4,690,277 ÷ $204,503,822); World Bank total is $121M — sources disagree, inputs shown", "s243d": "No §243(d) record found"}, "shadow": null}, {"id": "costa-rica", "country": "Costa Rica", "region": "latin-america-caribbean", "era": "current", "category": "other", "status": "in_effect", "status_detail": "In effect — two instruments: an April 2025 agreement (after Feb 2025 transfers made with NO written agreement) and a March 2026 MOU now in use.", "instrument": "(1) 'Procedures for Deportation Assistance,' signed Apr 3, 2025, Washington; (2) MOU Concerning the Transfer of Third Country Nationals, signed Mar 23, 2026, San José", "date_announced": "February 2025 (first transfers)", "date_signed": "2025-04-03 and 2026-03-23", "entry_into_force": "Not stated", "us_signatory": "2026 MOU: Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security — signed Mon Mar 23, 2026, one day before she left the post (per La Nación editorial, Mar 27, 2026). 2025 agreement: US Special Envoy for Latin America (Mar 14, 2025 FOIA-produced letter to Costa Rica's Foreign Minister)", "partner_signatory": "2026 MOU: Rodrigo Chaves, President of Costa Rica (per La Nación editorial, Mar 27, 2026). 2025: Costa Rican Minister of Foreign Affairs (recipient of the 2025 letter)", "text_published": "yes", "text_url": "https://foia.state.gov/FOIALIBRARY/QNI2.aspx", "text_note": "Both instruments posted in the State FOIA Library QNI collection (Case Act #2025-0019QN, May 2025 ZIP; #2026-0030QN, April 2026 ZIP). Costa Rican press (Semanario Universidad) read the 2026 MOU text directly; La Nación's reporting forced it public. PARTNER-SIDE DISCLOSURE LAG (La Nación editorial, Mar 27, 2026): as of that date the 2026 MOU had NOT been disclosed in Costa Rica — only partial official versions (a Presidency communiqué and limited statements by Security Minister Mario Zamora) were public, and Migration Director Omer Badilla stated the day after signing that he had not been informed of its content. La Nación's editorial calls that opacity unacceptable — an editorial position, attributed as such. The full text was made public within hours of the editorial (reproduced by Semanario Universidad), before the later US QNI posting.", "consideration": "Feb 2025: the US defrayed the costs of the first transfers (hosting, food, healthcare, interpretation, return flights for 51 people) — confirmed by the FOIA-produced Mar 14, 2025 letter. A $9.5M 'deportation assistance' figure after the April 2025 agreement rests on the Senate minority report alone — NOT corroborated in spending data. The traced money runs through organizations: a two-year $22.6M State award to IOM plus $10M to UNHCR (Refugees International; WaPo dataset totals $32.6M to organizations). A planned up-to-$7.85M ESF→DHS transfer (Reuters, Aug 2025) is documented only as a plan; execution unverified.", "consideration_disclosed": true, "scope": "2026 MOU (as read by Semanario Universidad): NO term and NO total cap — indefinite, terminable on express withdrawal. The '25 people per week' figure is a US proposal rate, not a cap; Costa Rica may exceed it and decides case-by-case whom to accept. The US sends files 48 hours before each flight. April 2025 agreement: Costa Rica reserves the right to set criteria for whom it receives. TERMS AS OFFICIALLY SUMMARIZED (Costa Rican Presidency statement, via La Nación editorial, Mar 27, 2026): the government describes the MOU as NON-BINDING; the US 'proposes' the names of people it wishes to deport and Costa Rica decides whether to accept or reject each; volume up to 25 per week, adjustable as Costa Rica determines (corroborating WaPo's 25/week); arrivals receive a TEMPORARY LEGAL STATUS under Costa Rican migration law while their situation is resolved, with human rights respected including protection against return to countries where they face risks; the US manages the financial support for the process; IOM assists with lodging and food; per Security Minister Mario Zamora, arrivals have FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT, keep their PASSPORTS, and are housed in HOUSES OR HOTELS. STRUCTURAL NOTE: the Feb 2025 transfers (200 people, CATEM detention, no written agreement at the time), the April 2025 'Procedures for Deportation Assistance,' and the March 2026 MOU are THREE DISTINCT arrangements — this entry keeps them separate rather than merged.", "removals": "More than 624 people on 20+ flights in total; 200 in Feb 2025 (including 81 children). Under the 2026 MOU: 424 people on 20 flights as of Sept 3, 2026 (tracker); Refugees International counts 460 by Oct 1, 2026. Costa Rica's migration authority (DGME) publishes data at migracion.go.cr.", "removals_number": 624, "assurances": "Costa Rica states transferees may seek asylum or temporary humanitarian status; monitoring in July 2026 found new African deportees were instead given tourist visas.", "legal_challenges": "Costa Rica's Constitutional Court ruled in June 2025 that prolonged detention of the Feb 2025 group violated personal liberty and ordered healthcare/education/housing and compensation. US-side: RAICES v. Noem. UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and CRC Committee appeals.", "notes": "NO valid price-per-person can be computed for Costa Rica: the $9.5M is not tied to any cohort, the MOU has no cap, and the $22.6M IOM award is two-year money against partial-year arrivals. The registry deliberately publishes no Costa Rica $/person figure.", "sources": [{"label": "Third Country Deportation Watch — Costa Rica", "url": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/costa-rica"}, {"label": "Refugees International — 'Left in Limbo'", "url": "https://www.refugeesinternational.org/reports-briefs/left-in-limbo-emerging-challenges-for-third-country-nationals-forcibly-transferred-by-the-united-states-to-costa-rica/"}, {"label": "Human Rights Watch — 'The Strategy Is to Break Us'", "url": "https://www.hrw.org/report/2025/05/22/the-strategy-is-to-break-us/the-us-expulsion-of-third-country-nationals-to-costa"}, {"label": "La Nación (Costa Rica) — editorial, 'La total opacidad del acuerdo migratorio firmado con Estados Unidos,' Mar 27, 2026 (full text on file in project sources/)", "url": "https://www.nacion.com/opinion/editorial/editorial-la-total-opacidad-del-acuerdo-migratorio/5BAI2BWNY5E5VFCLM7HZ4ST2FU/story/"}, {"label": "State Dept FOIA Library — QNI collection", "url": "https://foia.state.gov/FOIALIBRARY/QNI2.aspx"}], "flights": "ICE Flight Monitor appendix confirms Costa Rica transfer flights Feb 20 and Feb 25, 2025; the tracker counts 20+ flights in total.", "foia": "The ONLY verified FOIA production of agreement-adjacent records in the whole registry: Refugees International obtained the Mar 14, 2025 Special Envoy letter confirming US cost-defrayal. The agreement texts themselves became public via the Case Act channel, not FOIA. Human Rights Watch filed FOIA requests to DHS and the State Department on Dec 4, 2025 covering removals to Costa Rica-adjacent removals (Costa Rica was not in HRW's listed 13; no HRW FOIA covers it); as of Sept 28, 2026 neither department had provided the information (HRW, 'To Scare People').", "leverage": {"aid": "$44,669,827 — CY2023 (OECD DAC via World Bank)", "remittances": "0.75% of GDP — 2024", "trade": "47.92% — 2024 ($9,527,331,703 ÷ $19,882,315,857)", "s243d": "No §243(d) record found"}, "shadow": "NO ANOMALY OBSERVED in the country aggregate — the expected pattern for this deal's structure: the traced money ($22.6M to IOM, $10M to UNHCR) runs through multilaterals, off the bilateral country line. Absence of a bilateral surge is NOT absence of deal-linked spending. Quarterly series: unreachable."}, {"id": "dr-congo", "country": "Democratic Republic of the Congo", "region": "africa", "era": "current", "category": "temporary-transfer", "status": "in_effect", "status_detail": "In effect; flights paused since May 2026 due to an Ebola outbreak.", "instrument": "Third-Country National Transfer Arrangement (exchange of notes, Kinshasa, Dec 18 & 24, 2025)", "date_announced": "Early April 2026 (DRC government press release)", "date_signed": "2025-12-24", "entry_into_force": "Not stated", "us_signatory": "Not stated", "partner_signatory": "Not stated", "text_published": "yes", "text_url": "https://foia.state.gov/FOIALIBRARY/QNI2.aspx", "text_note": "Notes posted in the State FOIA Library QNI collection (Case Act #2026-0029QN, April 2026 ZIP), public June 2026.", "consideration": "CONFLICTED FIGURE: WaPo's internal State Department records (cited directly, Sept 21, 2026) state $75M pledged to organizations for a 2,000-person maximum; HRW documents a $50M US contribution to UNHCR marked 'in support of TCNA negotiations,' and NYT's Congo reporting likewise says $50M to UNHCR. No fetched source reconciles the two. The DRC government states its treasury bears no cost; logistics run through US-funded agencies. The registry publishes both figures with the conflict flagged and NO settled price-per-person.", "consideration_disclosed": true, "scope": "Accepts NO African nationals (WaPo internal records). Reported 50–100 people per month (BBC reporting). Stay is strictly temporary (3 months given to the first group); DRC retains control over admission, residence, monitoring, withdrawal of status, and returns.", "removals": "15 people on one flight, Apr 17, 2026 (7 Peru, 5 Colombia, 3 Ecuador) — all held withholding/deferral of removal. Most returned to origin countries by early June 2026 via IOM Assisted Voluntary Return. Flights paused May 2026 (Ebola).", "removals_number": 15, "assurances": "DRC assured transferees would be treated per its Refugee Convention and CAT obligations and would not face persecution in DRC or any onward country.", "legal_challenges": "US practice challenged in D.V.D. v. DHS; protests in Kinshasa; opposition politicians condemned the arrangement.", "notes": "DRC was listed as 'uncooperative/recalcitrant' by DHS in Dec 2024 but was NOT §243(d)-sanctioned — the distinction matters (see refusal map).", "sources": [{"label": "Third Country Deportation Watch — DR Congo", "url": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/democratic-republic-of-the-congo"}, {"label": "Human Rights Watch — 'To Scare People'", "url": "https://www.hrw.org/report/2026/10/08/to-scare-people/us-expulsions-of-third-country-nationals-to-countries-in-africa"}, {"label": "State Dept FOIA Library — QNI collection", "url": "https://foia.state.gov/FOIALIBRARY/QNI2.aspx"}], "flights": "ICE Flight Monitor: first-time DR Congo transfer flight in April 2026 (consistent with the Apr 17 flight).", "foia": "Text published via the Case Act channel (QNI), not via FOIA. DRC was not in HRW's Dec 4, 2025 FOIA batch.", "leverage": {"aid": "$1,222,046,631 — CY2023 (OECD DAC via World Bank)", "remittances": "2.64% of GDP — 2024", "trade": "0.01% — 2024 ($3,765,776 ÷ $37,395,099,696)", "s243d": "No sanction — DRC was 'recalcitrant'-listed (Dec 2024), which is NOT a §243(d) sanction"}, "shadow": "NO ANOMALY OBSERVED — DRC flows fell by roughly half around the notes window (humanitarian collapse); any deal item is indistinguishable inside a $450–750M envelope. Quarterly series: unreachable."}, {"id": "dominica", "country": "Dominica", "region": "latin-america-caribbean", "era": "current", "category": "uncategorized", "status": "in_effect", "status_detail": "In effect; first transfer July 22, 2026.", "instrument": "Diplomatic notes — 'agreement to facilitate third-country refugees' (Bridgetown/Roseau, Dec 17, 2025)", "date_announced": "December 2025", "date_signed": "2025-12-17", "entry_into_force": "Not stated", "us_signatory": "Not stated", "partner_signatory": "Not stated (PM Roosevelt Skerrit confirmed the agreement publicly)", "text_published": "yes", "text_url": "https://foia.state.gov/FOIALIBRARY/QNI2.aspx", "text_note": "Notes posted in the State FOIA Library QNI collection (Case Act #2026-0003QN, January 2026 ZIP), disclosed March 2026. Marked partial by the tracker (notes only).", "consideration": "Dominica stated it would not accept transfers without US financial contributions for food, housing and related matters; no amount in the notes. WaPo's dataset lists $309,600 pledged to the government (dataset-only figure). Context: a Jan 1, 2026 Presidential Proclamation suspended entry of Dominica nationals on immigrant/several visas, citing citizenship-by-investment programs.", "consideration_disclosed": true, "scope": "Up to 7 third-country nationals per quarter / 28 per year (PM Skerrit, Mar 3, 2026). The notes themselves state no nationalities or numbers; operating procedures to be developed.", "removals": "5 Colombian nationals on the first transfer, July 22, 2026.", "removals_number": 5, "assurances": "Dominica assures treatment per international legal obligations including non-refoulement; the US provides criminal and medical history for each proposed person.", "legal_challenges": "No known litigation at this time.", "notes": "Party to the Refugee Convention/Protocol but lacks a domestic refugee status determination framework.", "sources": [{"label": "Third Country Deportation Watch — Dominica", "url": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/dominica"}, {"label": "State Dept FOIA Library — QNI collection", "url": "https://foia.state.gov/FOIALIBRARY/QNI2.aspx"}], "flights": "ICE Flight Monitor confirmed the first Dominica transfer flight July 22, 2026.", "foia": "Text published via the Case Act channel (QNI), not via FOIA. No FOIA request for the text located.", "leverage": null, "shadow": null}, {"id": "dominican-republic", "country": "Dominican Republic", "region": "latin-america-caribbean", "era": "current", "category": "uncategorized", "status": "signed_not_used", "status_detail": "Signed May 12, 2026; no transfers known as of Sept 10, 2026.", "instrument": "Memorandum of Understanding Regarding the Transfer of Third-Country Nationals, with related Procedures (non-binding, per Dominican MFA)", "date_announced": "2026-05-12", "date_signed": "2026-05-12", "entry_into_force": "Not stated", "us_signatory": "Not stated", "partner_signatory": "Not stated (Dominican MFA provided details)", "text_published": "yes", "text_url": "https://foia.state.gov/FOIALIBRARY/QNI2.aspx", "text_note": "MOU posted in the State FOIA Library QNI collection (Case Act #2026-0039QN, June 2026 ZIP), disclosed August 2026.", "consideration": "Implementation funded by the US government with IOM support on the ground; no amount in the MOU record. WaPo's dataset lists $7M pledged to the government (dataset-only figure). Context (not stated as tied): a new five-year bilateral health agreement with up to $46.7M in US HIV/AIDS funding.", "consideration_disclosed": true, "scope": "Temporary, exceptional entry: up to 30 third-country nationals per month. Excludes Haitian nationals, people with serious criminal records, and unaccompanied minors.", "removals": "No transfers known to have occurred (Sept 10, 2026).", "removals_number": 0, "assurances": "The Dominican Republic 'intends to evaluate claims for refugee status, asylum, or other forms of protection' without regard to prior US presence/transit; implementation to follow domestic and international law.", "legal_challenges": "No known litigation.", "notes": "—", "sources": [{"label": "Third Country Deportation Watch — Dominican Republic", "url": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/dominican-republic"}, {"label": "State Dept FOIA Library — QNI collection", "url": "https://foia.state.gov/FOIALIBRARY/QNI2.aspx"}], "flights": "No confirmed transfer flight documented.", "foia": "Text published via the Case Act channel (QNI), not via FOIA. No FOIA request for the text located.", "leverage": null, "shadow": null}, {"id": "ecuador", "country": "Ecuador", "region": "latin-america-caribbean", "era": "current", "category": "aca", "status": "in_effect", "status_detail": "In effect — two instruments: a July 2025 ACA (diplomatic notes) and a second transfer understanding signed May 2026.", "instrument": "(1) ACA by exchange of diplomatic notes (Quito, Jul 16 & 23, 2025); (2) Understanding Regarding the Transfer of Third-Country Nationals (notes May 7 & 21, 2026)", "date_announced": "2025-09-01 (Foreign Minister announced the July signing)", "date_signed": "2025-07-23 and 2026-05-21", "entry_into_force": "2025-07-23 (IRIA listing for the 2025 notes)", "us_signatory": "Not stated", "partner_signatory": "Not stated", "text_published": "yes", "text_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/11/17/2025-19939/agreement-between-the-government-of-the-united-states-of-america-and-the-government-of-the-republic", "text_note": "2025 notes published in the Federal Register, 90 FR 51376 (Nov 17, 2025) — but, per the tracker, the published notes state no specific terms and defer eligibility to another instrument. Also listed as Case Act #2025-0030QN (QNI) and #2025-0104 (IRIA). The 2026 understanding is in the QNI June 2026 ZIP (#2026-0040QN).", "consideration": "No direct payment for transfers documented. Context: Washington pledged $20M security assistance during Secretary Rubio's Sept 2025 visit (a State official insisted it 'was not a quid pro quo'); reciprocal trade agreement announced Nov 14, 2025, signed Mar 2026; US military deployment/joint operations. WaPo's dataset lists program money to organizations ($5M + $4.1M on rate-based entries).", "consideration_disclosed": true, "scope": "The 300-per-year cap is CONTESTED: Ecuador's Foreign Minister described discussions around an annual cap of 300; US officials emphasized 'no specific quota' in the agreement. The 2026 understanding: Ecuador provides 'migratory processing' toward onward transfer to origin, residence, or other destination.", "removals": "Approximately 121 people under the ACA through June 2026 (66 Venezuelans, 30 Cubans, 11 Hondurans, 9 Colombians, others). Separately, 18,552 asylum cases were pretermitted/designated for removal to Ecuador Dec 2025–June 2026 (Mobile Pathways EOIR data) — pretermissions are not removals.", "removals_number": 121, "assurances": "2026 instrument: transferees would not be further transferred to a country where they would face persecution (tracker notes chain-refoulement concerns despite the assurance).", "legal_challenges": "Challenged in U.T. v. Bondi.", "notes": "All transfer flights arrive in Guayaquil; arrivals are reportedly sheltered by UNHCR pending asylum processing.", "sources": [{"label": "Third Country Deportation Watch — Ecuador", "url": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/ecuador"}, {"label": "Federal Register — Ecuador notes, 90 FR 51376", "url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/11/17/2025-19939/agreement-between-the-government-of-the-united-states-of-america-and-the-government-of-the-republic"}, {"label": "State Dept FOIA Library — QNI collection", "url": "https://foia.state.gov/FOIALIBRARY/QNI2.aspx"}], "flights": "ICE Flight Monitor counts Ecuador among destinations with ongoing monthly transfers (press release, Aug 18, 2026).", "foia": "Texts published via Federal Register / Case Act channels, not FOIA. Human Rights Watch filed FOIA requests to DHS and the State Department on Dec 4, 2025 covering removals to this country; as of Sept 28, 2026 neither department had provided the information (HRW, 'To Scare People').", "leverage": null, "shadow": null}, {"id": "el-salvador", "country": "El Salvador", "region": "latin-america-caribbean", "era": "current", "category": "incarceration", "status": "in_effect", "status_detail": "In effect as an incarceration arrangement. ~288 people sent in March–April 2025; the Venezuelan group was expelled onward to Venezuela in a July 2025 prisoner exchange; dozens of Salvadorans remained detained in CECOT as of April 2026.", "instrument": "'Understanding … Relating to the Transfer of Members of Terrorist Organizations' — exchange of diplomatic notes, Mar 13–14, 2025 (+ US note Mar 31, 2025). Concluded in secret; surfaced July 2025.", "date_announced": "Secret until July 2025", "date_signed": "2025-03-14", "entry_into_force": "Not stated", "us_signatory": "Not stated", "partner_signatory": "Not stated", "text_published": "yes", "text_url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.281302/gov.uscourts.dcd.281302.30.1.pdf", "text_note": "Public through TWO non-FOIA channels: (a) court exhibits in RFK Human Rights v. Dept of State, No. 1:25-cv-01774-JEB (D.D.C.) — the grant agreement is Exhibit 1 (Doc. 30-1); the notes are ECF 19-1 Exhs. 14–15; (b) State's May 2025 Case Act QNI report (Case Act #2025-0001CQN), submitted after the Senate Foreign Relations ranking member invoked the QNI definition. Case dismissed for standing Mar 25, 2026; the text remains public via the docket.", "consideration": "$4.76M INL grant (Mar 22, 2025) 'for law enforcement needs, which include costs of detaining the 238 TdA members' — and it is NOT the whole package: a State FOIA-released action memo (Apr 8, 2025) shows the Secretary approved up to $15M in FY2024 INCLE/CARSI funds, of which $4.76M was the initial tranche and the remaining $10.24M was put into expedited approval on Apr 8, 2025. Whether the $10.24M was disbursed is a documented gap. Conditions on the grant reportedly barred El Salvador from helping the detained men access legal counsel/resources. The often-quoted '~$6M' was AP's per-capita calculation, not a second payment.", "consideration_disclosed": true, "scope": "People sent to the CECOT mega-prison, to be jailed for a year pending 'further decisions.' The grant text covers up to 300 men for up to one year and names a 238-man cohort — implying the registry's only contractual per-person rate: $4.76M ÷ 238 = $20,000 per person.", "removals": "Approximately 288 people: 238 Venezuelans + 23 Salvadorans in March 2025, plus 27 more Venezuelans and Salvadorans in late March/early April. HRW/Cristosal document 252 Venezuelan men in the CECOT cohort. Venezuelans were expelled onward to Venezuela in the July 18, 2025 prisoner exchange.", "removals_number": 288, "assurances": "None stated in the tracker record.", "legal_challenges": "J.G.G. v. Trump (Alien Enemies Act expulsions; TRO, contempt findings, Supreme Court notice ruling Apr 2025; Feb 2026 order to facilitate returns, stayed Mar 13, 2026); D.V.D. v. DHS; the Abrego Garcia case (withholding of removal violated; Supreme Court upheld the duty to facilitate return). Courts repeatedly held the expulsions unlawful.", "notes": "Distinct from El Salvador's 2019 ACA (legacy section). Testimony from released CECOT detainees is in the Testimony layer (H1–H3).", "sources": [{"label": "Third Country Deportation Watch — El Salvador", "url": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/el-salvador"}, {"label": "Court exhibit — grant agreement, 1:25-cv-01774-JEB Doc. 30-1", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.281302/gov.uscourts.dcd.281302.30.1.pdf"}, {"label": "Senate minority report — 'At What Cost?'", "url": "https://www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/(FINAL%20-%20web)%20At%20What%20Cost%20-%20Inside%20the%20Trump%20Administration%27s%20Secret%20Deportation%20Deals_2.17.26.pdf"}, {"label": "HRW/Cristosal — 'You Have Arrived in Hell'", "url": "https://text.hrw.org/report/2025/11/12/you-have-arrived-in-hell/torture-and-other-abuses-against-venezuelans-in-el"}], "flights": "ICE Flight Monitor appendix confirms 5 third-country transfer flights: Mar 15, 2025 (×3, GlobalX A320 ex-Harlingen), Mar 31 and Apr 13, 2025 (C-17 ex-Guantanamo Bay). It publishes no CECOT-only count; 175 removal flights of all types touched down in El Salvador in 2025.", "foia": "Text produced in litigation + posted via Case Act — NOT obtained via FOIA. Adjacent FOIA: American Oversight's July 2025 request to ICE for flight photos/video was referred to DOJ, which refused to search and told the requester to ask El Salvador's public-records office; appeal filed, follow-on suit reported (docket unverified). Separately, CREW/Lawfare's Case Act suit (not FOIA) over State's failure to post detention agreements survived most of a motion to dismiss on Aug 31, 2026.", "leverage": {"aid": "$154,634,430 — CY2023 (OECD DAC via World Bank)", "remittances": "24.34% of GDP — 2024", "trade": "34.30% of exports to the US — 2024 ($2,164,992,774 ÷ $6,311,463,802, UN Comtrade)", "s243d": "No §243(d) record found"}, "shadow": "SURGE OBSERVED (documentary): a dated, deal-specific $15M INCLE authorisation ($4.76M provided + $10.24M expedited) sits exactly on the signing window, inside a $138.7M FY2025 total where it would not be separately visible. Quarterly series: unreachable."}, {"id": "equatorial-guinea", "country": "Equatorial Guinea", "region": "africa", "era": "current", "category": "temporary-transfer", "status": "in_effect", "status_detail": "In effect; seven transfer flights between Nov 2025 and Aug 2026.", "instrument": "Exchange of diplomatic notes (Oct 2, 2025, Washington) — described in earlier reporting as a Note Verbale", "date_announced": "October 2025 (deal concluded via the US Embassy in Malabo)", "date_signed": "2025-10-02", "entry_into_force": "Not stated", "us_signatory": "Not stated (Deputy Assistant Secretary Landau met Vice President Obiang after a sanctions waiver)", "partner_signatory": "Not stated", "text_published": "yes", "text_url": "https://foia.state.gov/FOIALIBRARY/QNI2.aspx", "text_note": "Notes posted in the State FOIA Library QNI collection (Case Act #2026-0031QN, APRIL 2026 report/ZIP). An earlier claim that the text 'became public in June 2026 via FOIA litigation' could not be verified — the located channel is the Case Act posting.", "consideration": "$7.5M from the Migration and Refugee Assistance account, paid directly to the government — the first-ever government-to-government transfer from that account (Sen. Shaheen's Nov 10, 2025 letter; Senate report; HRW). Corroborated in spending data: a PRM grant of $7.5M (Assistance Listing 19.517) to 'Miscellaneous Foreign Awardees' was awarded Oct 30, 2025, and Equatorial Guinea's reported US obligations jump from $98,600 (FY2025) to ~$7.29M (FY2026 reported so far). The Senate report notes $7.5M 'far exceeds all US foreign assistance to the country over the last eight years combined.' DAC-recorded US bilateral aid to Equatorial Guinea in CY2023 was $114,588. The New York Times (Aug 21, 2026) independently reports the same payment from federal data: 'the United States also wired $7.5 million to the country, federal data showed.' NON-CASH CONSIDERATION: weeks before Equatorial Guinea announced its agreement, the administration temporarily lifted sanctions on Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue so he could enter the United States for the UN General Assembly (NYT, Aug 21, 2026).", "consideration_disclosed": true, "scope": "Temporary transfer before onward return. The published notes specify NO cap and reserve case-by-case acceptance/rejection. A 250-person cap exists only in WaPo's internal-records dataset — so any $/person figure using it is provisional. Transferees detained at the Bamy Hotel; arrivals were told asylum was not available.", "removals": "66 people on 7 flights (Nov 24, 2025 – Aug 20, 2026). The first 29 were all forcibly sent onward to their origin countries. SEPARATELY RECORDED (not folded into TCDW's 66 — whether that count includes them is not stated): in Aug 2026 Equatorial Guinea received the group rerouted from Liberia after refusing to deplane there — the program's first reported onward-rerouting case (see the Liberia entry). Counsel for the group (Alexandra Smolyar, Asian Americans Advancing Justice–Atlanta) identifies six people: four Cuban men, a Brazilian person and a Cameroonian woman, held at the Bamy Hotel in Malabo. Count tension recorded per source, unmerged: NYT 'at least five' resisted in Monrovia; WaPo reports six refused.", "removals_number": 66, "assurances": "Equatorial Guinea asserts transferees 'will not be subjected to persecution … or to torture' in Equatorial Guinea or any onward country, consistent with the Refugee Convention/Protocol, OAU Convention and CAT.", "legal_challenges": "US practice challenged in D.V.D. v. DHS. In June 2026, NGOs filed a case at the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights accusing Equatorial Guinea of refoulement, seeking suspension of transfers and access to lawyers.", "notes": "WaPo (Sept 21, 2026) reports payments under the deal were frozen for weeks because of Equatorial Guinea's unreliable banking system. DEBUNKED FIGURE: the circulating '$100,000+ per person' claim does not exist as a payment term — it conflates the Senate's all-in cost estimate ($282,126 per migrant, payment + estimated flights, as of Jan 31, 2026) with a per-person fee. No fetched source states any per-person fee for Equatorial Guinea.", "sources": [{"label": "Third Country Deportation Watch — Equatorial Guinea", "url": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/equatorial-guinea"}, {"label": "Sen. Shaheen letter, Nov 10, 2025 (PDF)", "url": "https://www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/eg_letter.pdf"}, {"label": "Senate minority report — 'At What Cost?'", "url": "https://www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/(FINAL%20-%20web)%20At%20What%20Cost%20-%20Inside%20the%20Trump%20Administration%27s%20Secret%20Deportation%20Deals_2.17.26.pdf"}, {"label": "NYT — Baskar, Aleaziz & Glatsky, 'After Deportees Resist Arrival in Liberia, U.S. Flies Them to Another Country' (Aug 21, 2026)", "url": "https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/21/world/africa/us-deportees-liberia-equatorial-guinea.html"}, {"label": "Human Rights Watch — 'To Scare People'", "url": "https://www.hrw.org/report/2026/10/08/to-scare-people/us-expulsions-of-third-country-nationals-to-countries-in-africa"}], "flights": "ICE Flight Monitor appendix confirms transfer flights Nov 24, 2025 and Jan 22, 2026; TCDW documents 7 flights / 66 people. WaPo (Sept 21, 2026), from internal records, counts SIX flights and 50+ people sent through August — a different snapshot and method; both counts are recorded, not merged.", "foia": "Text published via the Case Act channel (QNI, Apr 2026), not via FOIA. Human Rights Watch filed FOIA requests to DHS and the State Department on Dec 4, 2025 covering removals to this country; as of Sept 28, 2026 neither department had provided the information (HRW, 'To Scare People').", "leverage": {"aid": "$114,588 — CY2023 (OECD DAC via World Bank). Against this baseline, the $7.5M deal payment 'far exceeds all US foreign assistance to the country over the last eight years combined' (Senate report)", "remittances": "MISSING — the World Bank series is null for every year 2000–2024", "trade": "4.63% — mixed-source (US-reported imports $137,845,483 ÷ World Bank exports $2.979B, 2024)", "s243d": "No §243(d) record found (its PP 10949/10998 entry suspensions are a different authority)"}, "shadow": "SURGE OBSERVED — the clearest in this layer: FY2025 obligations $98,600 → FY2026 reported-so-far ~$7.29M, matching the traced PRM grant ($7.5M, ALN 19.517, 'Miscellaneous Foreign Awardees,' Oct 30, 2025). The payment effectively IS the bilateral relationship. Quarterly series: unreachable, but the annual break is unambiguous because the baseline is ~zero."}, {"id": "eswatini", "country": "Eswatini", "region": "africa", "era": "current", "category": "incarceration", "status": "in_effect", "status_detail": "In effect; transferees detained at Matsapha Correctional Complex maximum-security prison. 26 of 32 remained arbitrarily detained as of Sept 10, 2026.", "instrument": "Memorandum of Understanding Concerning the Removal of Third Country Nationals (signed May 14, 2025, Mbabane)", "date_announced": "Not stated", "date_signed": "2025-05-14", "entry_into_force": "Not stated", "us_signatory": "Not stated", "partner_signatory": "Not stated", "text_published": "yes", "text_url": "https://foia.state.gov/FOIALIBRARY/QNI2.aspx", "text_note": "MOU posted in the State FOIA Library QNI collection (Case Act #2025-0025QN, June 2025 ZIP); also disclosed via DocumentCloud in an Axios article in early Oct 2025. NOTE: Eswatini's government spokesperson said in July 2025 that 'the terms of the agreement remain classified' (to CNN; similar terms to The Africa Report) — the US-side posting and the partner-side classification coexist in the record.", "consideration": "$5.1M 'to build its border and migration management capacity,' covering costs of up to 160 people. Receipt confirmed partner-side: Finance Minister Neal Rijkenberg told Parliament (Nov 17, 2025) the money sits UNALLOCATED in the National Disaster Management Agency account and the Finance Ministry 'had been kept in the dark'; the transaction was 'handled by the Prime Minister.' No USASpending award record was located. US totals for Eswatini fell sharply in the same period — the payment is established by the recipient's confirmation, not by a spending surge.", "consideration_disclosed": true, "scope": "Up to 160 individuals (funding capacity). No nationalities specified in the MOU. IOM to assist onward relocation within a year of arrival. Prison incarceration arrangement: transferees held at Matsapha until repatriation.", "removals": "32 people on 5 flights (Jul 15, 2025: 5; Oct 6, 2025: 10; Mar 11, 2026: 4; Jul 8, 2026: 11; Aug 27, 2026: 2).", "removals_number": 32, "assurances": "The MOU recites both parties' 1951 Convention / 1967 Protocol / CAT obligations; no specific non-refoulement assurance quoted beyond that.", "legal_challenges": "US practice challenged in D.V.D. v. DHS. In Eswatini: civil-society suit arguing the secret deal is unconstitutional (never submitted to Parliament) was dismissed Feb 3, 2026 on standing (applicants could not produce the agreement) and appealed; a separate suit won 4 detainees access to a local attorney (Oct 3, 2025, upheld by the Supreme Court Apr 2026); an African Commission complaint (Dec 2, 2025) over prolonged detention was taken up Mar 3, 2026.", "notes": "One of the first five men sent (July 15, 2025) was a Laotian national raised in the US from age 7; he was held over 14 months and released Oct 4, 2026.", "sources": [{"label": "Third Country Deportation Watch — Eswatini", "url": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/eswatini"}, {"label": "Senate minority report — 'At What Cost?'", "url": "https://www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/(FINAL%20-%20web)%20At%20What%20Cost%20-%20Inside%20the%20Trump%20Administration%27s%20Secret%20Deportation%20Deals_2.17.26.pdf"}, {"label": "Reuters via SABC Channel Africa — minister confirms $5.1M", "url": "https://www.channelafrica.co.za/channelafrica/news/eswatini-receive-5-1-million-to-accept-us-deportees/"}, {"label": "State Dept FOIA Library — QNI collection", "url": "https://foia.state.gov/FOIALIBRARY/QNI2.aspx"}], "flights": "ICE Flight Monitor appendix confirms transfer flights Jul 15, 2025 (via Ireland/Djibouti), Oct 5, 2025 and Mar 11, 2026; TCDW documents 5 flights / 32 people.", "foia": "Text published via the Case Act channel (QNI) + press disclosure via DocumentCloud — not via FOIA. Human Rights Watch filed FOIA requests to DHS and the State Department on Dec 4, 2025 covering removals to this country; as of Sept 28, 2026 neither department had provided the information (HRW, 'To Scare People').", "leverage": {"aid": "$61,007,149 — CY2023 (OECD DAC via World Bank)", "remittances": "0.69% of GDP — 2024", "trade": "1.39% — 2023 ($29,200,412 ÷ $2,095,601,709)", "s243d": "No §243(d) record found"}, "shadow": "NO ANOMALY OBSERVED — US totals for Eswatini fell steeply (one series: $76.6M in 2024 → $20.9M in 2025). The $5.1M is established by the recipient government's own confirmation (Finance Minister to Parliament, Nov 17, 2025), not by a surge. Quarterly series: unreachable."}, {"id": "ghana", "country": "Ghana", "region": "africa", "era": "current", "category": "temporary-transfer", "status": "in_effect", "status_detail": "In effect; five confirmed flights between Sept 5, 2025 and July 31, 2026. The arrangement's written form is disputed even by Ghana's own government (called, at different times, an 'MoU,' a 'decision or understanding,' and 'notes of understanding and note verbales').", "instrument": "Informal arrangement — a US district court called it 'a hasty and unwritten agreement'; a diplomatic note carrying assurances is referenced but has never been published", "date_announced": "September 2025", "date_signed": "Not stated (informal)", "entry_into_force": "Not stated", "us_signatory": "Not stated", "partner_signatory": "Not stated", "text_published": "no", "text_url": "", "text_note": "NEVER PUBLISHED. No Ghana instrument appears in any State Case Act (QNI or IRIA) monthly report Jan 2025–July 2026, and no Federal Register notice exists. The only US document public is a Sept 13, 2025 State Department declaration (produced under court order) confirming assurances were received 'by diplomatic note'; US officials have refused to make the assurances public. Ghana's Supreme Court ordered the agreement produced for PRIVATE inspection by plaintiffs' counsel only (Feb 11, 2026) — not public disclosure.", "consideration": "$0 claimed: Foreign Minister Ablakwa told Parliament (Nov 19, 2025) Ghana 'did not ask for a cent' and accepted 54 deportees by that date on 'humanitarian and Pan-African grounds.' The consideration was non-cash: one week after Ghana announced accepting 40 more transferees, the US lifted its July 2025 visa restrictions (restoring five-year multiple-entry visas, Sept 26, 2025) and rescinded 15% tariffs (effective Nov 13, 2025). NOTE: the Sept 2025 visa reversal concerned reciprocity restrictions, NOT a §243(d) lift — Ghana's actual §243(d) episode was imposed Jan 31, 2019 and lifted Jan 17, 2020.", "consideration_disclosed": true, "scope": "West African nationals only (ECOWAS states), who can enter Ghana visa-free for 90 days under the ECOWAS protocol. Ghana permits nonviolent offenders only (WaPo internal records, Sept 21, 2026).", "removals": "More than 100 people on 5 confirmed flights (Sep 5, 2025: 14; Oct 13: 17; Nov 2025: 19; Jul 31, 2026: 30+; plus one more). Ghanaian authorities refused to reveal the whereabouts of 45 additional people transferred after the first flight. Extensive chain refoulement documented: many were deported onward the same day or within weeks.", "removals_number": 100, "assurances": "US officials say Ghana gave diplomatic assurances against return to persecution/torture but refused to publish them. Ghana's foreign minister initially promised transferees access to a 'safe haven.'", "legal_challenges": "US: D.A. v. Noem (D.D.C. — court condemned the transfers but found no jurisdiction over Ghana; the FOIA count was voluntarily dismissed Jan 19, 2026 with no production) and D.V.D. v. DHS. Ghana: Democracy Hub's Supreme Court case (Art. 75(2) ratification challenge; counsel-only inspection ordered Feb 11, 2026; merits pending); lawyers' suit over military-camp detention; a complaint to the UN Committee Against Torture; a June 2026 suit at the ECOWAS Court of Justice.", "notes": "Ghana is the registry's clearest transparency case: the highest-profile African arrangement has no public text anywhere. A ready-to-file FOIA draft targeting the arrangement is in the FOIA drafts folder.", "sources": [{"label": "Third Country Deportation Watch — Ghana", "url": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/ghana"}, {"label": "Human Rights Watch — 'To Scare People'", "url": "https://www.hrw.org/report/2026/10/08/to-scare-people/us-expulsions-of-third-country-nationals-to-countries-in-africa"}, {"label": "Kumasi Mail — Supreme Court counsel-only inspection order", "url": "https://kumasimail.com/s-court-orders-ag-to-release-ghana-us-deportation-agreement-for-democracy-hubs-lawyers-inspection/"}, {"label": "D.A. v. Noem — Clearinghouse case page", "url": "https://clearinghouse.net/case/46948/"}], "flights": "ICE Flight Monitor appendix confirms 5 Ghana transfer flights in its Jan 2025–Mar 2026 window alone (Sep 5, Sep 11, Sep 18, Oct 13, Nov 7, 2025 — six entries incl. a repeat listing); its July 2026 report refers to 'at least the 9th' Ghana flight.", "foia": "Text never published. The D.A. v. Noem FOIA count (§552(a)(2) proactive disclosure) was voluntarily dismissed Jan 19, 2026 — closed WITHOUT production. Human Rights Watch filed FOIA requests to DHS and the State Department on Dec 4, 2025 covering removals to this country; as of Sept 28, 2026 neither department had provided the information (HRW, 'To Scare People'). No FOIA request for the agreement text itself was found from any requester — the registry's highest-priority disclosure gap. A ready-to-file draft is included in this project (foia-drafts/).", "leverage": {"aid": "$196,889,008 — CY2023 (OECD DAC via World Bank)", "remittances": "3.63% of GDP — 2024", "trade": "2.38% — 2024 ($490,494,561 ÷ $20,643,931,879)", "s243d": "YES — imposed Jan 31, 2019; lifted Jan 17, 2020 (CRS IF11025). The Sept 2025 visa reversal was a reciprocity action, NOT §243(d)"}, "shadow": "NO ANOMALY OBSERVED — the layer's cleanest negative: on the fetched record no disbursement was part of the deal; the shadow is in visa/tariff actions, not spending data. Quarterly series: unreachable (and would show nothing deal-linked)."}, {"id": "grenada", "country": "Grenada", "region": "latin-america-caribbean", "era": "current", "category": "uncategorized", "status": "signed_not_used", "status_detail": "Signed Jan 30, 2026 in Washington; no known transfers as of Sept 10, 2026. Grenada initially declined and agreed only after repeated US requests over many months.", "instrument": "Memorandum of Understanding Concerning the Transfer of Third Country Nationals", "date_announced": "Not stated", "date_signed": "2026-01-30", "entry_into_force": "Not stated", "us_signatory": "Not stated", "partner_signatory": "Not stated", "text_published": "yes", "text_url": "https://foia.state.gov/FOIALIBRARY/QNI2.aspx", "text_note": "MOU posted in the State FOIA Library QNI collection (Case Act #2026-0014QN, February 2026 ZIP).", "consideration": "Not disclosed. The Prime Minister framed the deal as a way to solve labor shortages in construction, agriculture and hospitality. Context: Aug 2025 US visa restrictions on Grenadian officials (Cuba medical programs); Jan 2026 immigrant-visa suspension listing; Mar 2026 visa-bond list; Aug 2026 reports the US was considering closing its embassy in Grenada.", "consideration_disclosed": false, "scope": "Preference for individuals who contribute to Grenada's development (MOU text). No cap stated in the tracker record.", "removals": "No known transfers (Sept 10, 2026).", "removals_number": 0, "assurances": "Grenada committed that transferees would not face persecution or torture in Grenada or any onward country. Grenada is NOT party to the 1951 Convention / 1967 Protocol and has no formal refugee process.", "legal_challenges": "No known litigation.", "notes": "—", "sources": [{"label": "Third Country Deportation Watch — Grenada", "url": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/grenada"}, {"label": "State Dept FOIA Library — QNI collection", "url": "https://foia.state.gov/FOIALIBRARY/QNI2.aspx"}], "flights": "No confirmed transfer flight documented.", "foia": "Text published via the Case Act channel (QNI), not via FOIA. No FOIA request for the text located.", "leverage": null, "shadow": null}, {"id": "guatemala", "country": "Guatemala", "region": "latin-america-caribbean", "era": "current", "category": "aca", "status": "in_effect", "status_detail": "In effect, but transfers are occurring OUTSIDE the ACA's parameters; the ACA itself had not been implemented as of early 2026.", "instrument": "Agreement Relating to the Transfer of Nationals of Central American Countries to Guatemala (exchange of notes: US/Guatemala notes Jun 11 & 13, 2025 per the Federal Register; culminating signature by President Arévalo Jun 27, 2025 per the IRIA listing)", "date_announced": "June 2025", "date_signed": "2025-06-27", "entry_into_force": "2025-06-27 (IRIA listing)", "us_signatory": "Not stated", "partner_signatory": "President Bernardo Arévalo (per tracker)", "text_published": "yes", "text_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/07/15/2025-13216/agreement-between-the-government-of-the-united-states-of-america-and-the-government-of-the-republic", "text_note": "Full text published in the Federal Register, 90 FR 31670 (July 15, 2025). Case Act #2025-0096. DATE NOTE: the FR says the agreement was effected by notes of June 11 & 13, 2025; the IRIA listing gives June 27, 2025 (the culminating signature) — both are recorded; 'signed July 2025' is wrong.", "consideration": "The diplomatic notes expressly state the agreement commits NEITHER government to disburse or allocate funds. WaPo's dataset nevertheless lists pledges connected to Guatemala ($15.2M to government + $3.8M to organizations, on rate-based entries) — recorded as a dataset claim in tension with the text's no-funds clause, not as an ACA term.", "consideration_disclosed": true, "scope": "Central American nationals, whom Guatemala may consider for refugee status or temporary protection. President Arévalo insists it is not a 'safe third country agreement' but an exchange of notes facilitating 'dignified and safe return.' The notes provide no assurance of protection capacity or non-refoulement (tracker assessment).", "removals": "3,045 people transferred outside the ACA (2,848 Mexicans + 197 Nicaraguans, Hondurans and Salvadorans) — Central American transfers began Oct 10, 2025; Mexican transfers began April 2026 and are processed as a ~24-hour 'stopover' before busing onward. 1,769 asylum cases pretermitted for removal to Guatemala under the ACA through June 2026, with NO known transfers under the ACA itself.", "removals_number": 3045, "assurances": "None adequate in the notes (tracker assessment).", "legal_challenges": "Challenged in U.T. v. Bondi.", "notes": "Successor to the terminated 2019 ACA (legacy section).", "sources": [{"label": "Third Country Deportation Watch — Guatemala", "url": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/guatemala"}, {"label": "Federal Register — Guatemala agreement, 90 FR 31670", "url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/07/15/2025-13216/agreement-between-the-government-of-the-united-states-of-america-and-the-government-of-the-republic"}, {"label": "USCRI TCD Tracker", "url": "https://refugees.org/tcdtracker"}], "flights": "ICE Flight Monitor appendix confirms an Oct 10, 2025 transfer flight to Guatemala; the trackers describe ongoing monthly transfers.", "foia": "Text published in the Federal Register (not FOIA). Human Rights Watch filed FOIA requests to DHS and the State Department on Dec 4, 2025 covering removals to this country; as of Sept 28, 2026 neither department had provided the information (HRW, 'To Scare People').", "leverage": {"aid": "$234,156,891 — CY2023 (OECD DAC via World Bank)", "remittances": "19.12% of GDP — 2024", "trade": "32.33% — 2023 matched pair ($4,610,996,491 ÷ $14,261,032,628)", "s243d": "No §243(d) record found"}, "shadow": null}]}