{"entries": [{"id": "guinea-bissau", "country": "Guinea-Bissau", "region": "africa", "era": "current", "category": "uncategorized", "status": "announced_unconfirmed", "status_detail": "Reported by the tracker as an agreement the US 'may be finalizing.' WaPo's internal-records dataset lists it as 'not operational' with 0 people sent. WaPo (Sept 21, 2026) adds corroborating context: a State Department map (March 2026) counts Guinea-Bissau among 9 African countries in negotiation (49 approached, 13 agreements secured). No instrument has been located in any public channel.", "instrument": "Unknown — no instrument located", "date_announced": "Not stated", "date_signed": "Not stated", "entry_into_force": "Not stated", "us_signatory": "Not stated", "partner_signatory": "Not stated", "text_published": "no", "text_url": "", "text_note": "No instrument in the Case Act (QNI/IRIA) lists swept through July 2026 and no Federal Register notice. Documented gap.", "consideration": "WaPo's dataset lists $20M pledged to organizations against a 1,000-person target (dataset-only; no second source). Recorded as a negotiating-dataset figure, not a concluded-deal term.", "consideration_disclosed": true, "scope": "Not stated. (Guinea-Bissau nationals appear in the ECOWAS scope lists of the Ghana and Sierra Leone arrangements — that is not a Guinea-Bissau agreement.)", "removals": "None — 0 sent (WaPo dataset).", "removals_number": 0, "assurances": "Not stated.", "legal_challenges": "None known.", "notes": "Included because both the tracker and WaPo's internal-records dataset carry it; flagged as unconfirmed.", "sources": [{"label": "Third Country Deportation Watch — homepage (negotiating list)", "url": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/"}, {"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": "No confirmed transfer flight documented.", "foia": "No instrument located; no FOIA record found. Documented gap.", "leverage": null, "shadow": null}, {"id": "guyana", "country": "Guyana", "region": "latin-america-caribbean", "era": "current", "category": "uncategorized", "status": "announced_unconfirmed", "status_detail": "A diplomatic note exists (Nov 25, 2025) but it is only an understanding to CONSIDER accepting transfers — no acceptance commitment. The tracker homepage lists Guyana among countries people have been sent to; its country page states no transfer numbers (discrepancy recorded, not smoothed).", "instrument": "Diplomatic note — 'Understanding as to Consideration of Accepting the Transfer … of Third-Country Nationals' (Georgetown, Nov 25, 2025)", "date_announced": "Not stated", "date_signed": "2025-11-25", "entry_into_force": "Not stated", "us_signatory": "Not stated", "partner_signatory": "Guyana Ministry of Foreign Affairs (note author)", "text_published": "yes", "text_url": "https://foia.state.gov/FOIALIBRARY/QNI2.aspx", "text_note": "Note posted in the State FOIA Library QNI collection (Case Act #2026-0006QN, January 2026 ZIP). Weaker instrument than the MOUs: as titled, it commits Guyana only to consideration.", "consideration": "Guyanese authorities assert the US bears integration costs, with IOM responsible for receiving, housing and supporting people; no amount in the note record. A $7.8M-to-IOM figure is single-source (Guyana Times via a tracker summary) — flagged, not verified.", "consideration_disclosed": true, "scope": "Guyana would consider admitting selected migrants without criminal records who have skills sought in its labor market (oil-boom shortages); Guyana retains the right to refuse any individual.", "removals": "Not stated on the tracker's country page. Search-level reporting of ~6 arrivals by Sept 2026 exists but was not verified to registry standard — recorded as a gap, not a figure.", "removals_number": null, "assurances": "The note assures transferees would not face torture or persecution in Guyana or onward transfer. Guyana is NOT party to the 1951 Convention / 1967 Protocol and has no asylum legislation.", "legal_challenges": "Not stated. (The US has threatened to forcibly transfer to Guyana a gay man granted withholding of removal — a threat documented by the tracker, not a completed transfer.)", "notes": "—", "sources": [{"label": "Third Country Deportation Watch — Guyana", "url": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/guyana"}, {"label": "State Dept FOIA Library — QNI collection", "url": "https://foia.state.gov/FOIALIBRARY/QNI2.aspx"}], "flights": "No confirmed transfer flight documented in the Flight Monitor appendix.", "foia": "Note published via the Case Act channel (QNI). No FOIA request for records located.", "leverage": null, "shadow": null}, {"id": "honduras", "country": "Honduras", "region": "latin-america-caribbean", "era": "current", "category": "aca", "status": "in_effect", "status_detail": "In effect — two instruments: a March 2025 ACA (amended June 2025) and a second transfer understanding concluded by notes in April–June 2026.", "instrument": "(1) ACA for Cooperation in the Examination of Protection Requests (signed Mar 10, 2025, Washington; amendment by notes Jun 25, 2025); (2) Understanding Regarding the Transfer of Third-Country Nationals, with Related Procedures (notes Apr 28–29 & Jun 22, 2026)", "date_announced": "Not stated", "date_signed": "2025-03-10", "entry_into_force": "Not stated (the US position: the ACA can apply retroactively to people who entered on/after Nov 19, 2019; the June 2025 amendment removed the original temporal limit)", "us_signatory": "DHS Senior Counselor Robert T. Law signed the Federal Register notice", "partner_signatory": "Not stated", "text_published": "yes", "text_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/07/08/2025-12631/agreement-between-the-government-of-the-united-states-of-america-and-the-government-of-the-republic", "text_note": "ACA + amendment published in the Federal Register, 90 FR 30076 (July 8, 2025); Joint Implementation Guidance published in the Honduran gazette June 25, 2025; the 2026 understanding is in the QNI July 2026 ZIP (Case Act #2026-0044QN), disclosed Sept 2026.", "consideration": "The published ACA guarantees no US financial support (technical/financial assistance left open). WaPo's dataset lists $15M to the government and $2M to organizations on rate-based entries (dataset-only). Context: TPS for ~72,000 Hondurans was terminated effective Sept 8, 2025, days after the retroactivity amendment; Honduras was exempted from new tariffs in Aug 2025.", "consideration_disclosed": true, "scope": "Joint Implementation Plan: Honduras committed to receive 10 third-country nationals per month, up to 240 over two years; initially Spanish-speaking Latin American nationals not requiring visas (Cubans and Venezuelans excluded); Honduras may exceed the cap or accept others at its discretion. The FR text excludes Honduran nationals/residents, unaccompanied minors, valid-visa arrivals, and certain crime/Interpol cases.", "removals": "At least 568 people as of early Sept 2026: 113 asylum seekers under the ACA (Oct 2025–Aug 2026), plus 90+ Guatemalans and 365+ Mexicans transferred outside the ACA. 7,606 asylum cases pretermitted for removal to Honduras (Aug 2025–June 2026). Under 15% of ACA transferees sought asylum in Honduras.", "removals_number": 568, "assurances": "None stated as a specific clause beyond the ACA framework.", "legal_challenges": "Challenged in U.T. v. Bondi.", "notes": "Distinct from Honduras's 2019 ACA (legacy section). Military removal flights to Honduras resumed June 2026 (at least 38 by end of August; at least 5 carried third-country nationals).", "sources": [{"label": "Third Country Deportation Watch — Honduras", "url": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/honduras"}, {"label": "Federal Register — Honduras ACA + amendment, 90 FR 30076", "url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/07/08/2025-12631/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 appendix confirms an Oct 10, 2025 transfer flight to Honduras; April 2026 reporting counts Honduras among the top removal destinations overall.", "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": {"aid": "$217,314,362 — CY2023 (OECD DAC via World Bank)", "remittances": "25.74% of GDP — 2024", "trade": "45.03% — 2023 matched pair ($3,228,891,055 ÷ $7,170,970,774)", "s243d": "No §243(d) record found"}, "shadow": null}, {"id": "jamaica", "country": "Jamaica", "region": "latin-america-caribbean", "era": "current", "category": "uncategorized", "status": "signed_not_used", "status_detail": "MOU signed June 10, 2026; no known transfers as of Sept 10, 2026. Hundreds protested the agreement in Jamaica in July 2026.", "instrument": "Memorandum of Understanding (per Security Minister Horace Chang)", "date_announced": "Not stated", "date_signed": "2026-06-10", "entry_into_force": "Not stated", "us_signatory": "Not stated", "partner_signatory": "Not stated", "text_published": "no", "text_url": "", "text_note": "The MOU is not described as published on any channel located; it does not appear in the Case Act (QNI/IRIA) lists swept through July 2026. A further Oct 2026 Jamaica transit arrangement was mentioned in secondary coverage but postdates the latest posted State reports. Documented gap.", "consideration": "The US would support all related costs and arrangements (Security Minister); no amount. Pressure reported: US threats to revoke visas of Jamaican nationals prompted approval (local news).", "consideration_disclosed": false, "scope": "Jamaica acts as a 'transit country': up to 25 people every two weeks, hosting no more than 10 at once. People with criminal backgrounds excluded.", "removals": "No known transfers (Sept 10, 2026).", "removals_number": 0, "assurances": "Not stated.", "legal_challenges": "No known litigation; public protests July 2026 (transparency/security concerns).", "notes": "Jamaica has no official asylum system.", "sources": [{"label": "Third Country Deportation Watch — Jamaica", "url": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/jamaica"}], "flights": "No confirmed transfer flight documented.", "foia": "No text located; no FOIA record found. Documented gap.", "leverage": null, "shadow": null}, {"id": "kosovo", "country": "Kosovo", "region": "europe", "era": "current", "category": "uncategorized", "status": "in_effect", "status_detail": "In effect. Kosovo's acting government approved the measure June 11, 2025 — a cabinet decision, not an Assembly vote (partner-side record). First arrival reported December 2025.", "instrument": "'Arrangement on Reception and Relocation by the Republic of Kosovo of Third Country Nationals Subject to Removal from the United States' (exchange of notes, Washington/Pristina, May 28 & Jun 4, 2025)", "date_announced": "2025-06-11 (government vote; PM Kurti statement)", "date_signed": "2025-06-04", "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": "Notes posted in the State FOIA Library QNI collection (Case Act #2025-0041QN, December 2025 ZIP) — note the lag: May/June 2025 notes were not reported until Dec 31, 2025.", "consideration": "The US will provide funding for reception (amount not stated). Kosovo's note reiterates its request for US support on international recognition of sovereignty and its EU application. No monetary figure verified.", "consideration_disclosed": false, "scope": "Up to 50 individuals over/for one year, with final removal orders; people who are not violent/extremist, not incarcerated or facing criminal proceedings, 'ideally' with cultural/linguistic affinities. Temporary relocation while return home is arranged.", "removals": "One or two people sent in December 2025 (Reuters). Later totals: gap.", "removals_number": 2, "assurances": "Kosovo planned a process aligned with its capacities and international obligations including CAT and non-refoulement. Kosovo is not a signatory to CAT or the 1951 Convention (tracker note).", "legal_challenges": "No known litigation at this time.", "notes": "Described by the US embassy chargé as 'the first country in Europe to announce' acceptance of US third-country deportees.", "sources": [{"label": "Third Country Deportation Watch — Kosovo", "url": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/kosovo"}, {"label": "State Dept FOIA Library — QNI collection", "url": "https://foia.state.gov/FOIALIBRARY/QNI2.aspx"}, {"label": "Migration Policy Institute — typology analysis", "url": "https://www.migrationpolicy.org/commentary/us-third-country-deportation-agreements-are-more-about-fear-numbers"}], "flights": "No per-country flight count in the Flight Monitor appendix; arrival reported by AP/Reuters.", "foia": "Text published via the Case Act channel (QNI), not via FOIA. No FOIA request for the text located.", "leverage": {"aid": "$65,095,177 — CY2023 (OECD DAC via World Bank)", "remittances": "17.29% of GDP — 2024", "trade": "MISSING — no Comtrade reporter or US-partner series 2021–2024, and the World Bank exports series is null for Kosovo 2019–2024", "s243d": "No §243(d) record found"}, "shadow": null}, {"id": "liberia", "country": "Liberia", "region": "africa", "era": "current", "category": "aca", "status": "in_effect", "status_detail": "In effect — two instruments: a Sept 2025 ACA (unused for transfers for months) and a separate, undisclosed 2026 removal arrangement first used Aug 20, 2026.", "instrument": "(1) ACA — Agreement to Cooperate in the Examination of Protection Claims (exchange of notes, Monrovia, Sept 10, 2025); (2) undisclosed removal arrangement (2026)", "date_announced": "2026-08-18 (Liberia's Ministry of Information announced the plan to accept up to 1,200)", "date_signed": "2025-09-10 (ACA); 2026 arrangement date undisclosed", "entry_into_force": "2025-09-10 (ACA)", "us_signatory": "Not stated", "partner_signatory": "Not stated", "text_published": "partial", "text_url": "https://foia.state.gov/FOIALIBRARY/IRIA2.aspx", "text_note": "The ACA is listed in State's IRIA index (Case Act #2025-0138) but its TEXT was not located in the Federal Register or verified in TIAS in this project's sweeps — HRW quotes its terms (no cap; no payment amount; implementation 'subject to the availability of funds'), so HRW had a text from a channel it does not state. The 2026 arrangement's text has never been published. A ready-to-file FOIA draft for the ACA text is in the FOIA drafts folder.", "consideration": "UPGRADED Oct 20, 2026 — no longer single-source; three legs, presented separately and never collapsed into one claim: (1) DOCUMENTED APPROVAL: internal State Department documents reviewed by the New York Times (Ngo, Aleaziz & Kanno-Youngs, 'U.S. Agreed to Pay Liberia $5 Million in Connection with Deportees, Documents Say,' Aug 21, 2026; full text retrieved by Athena and on file) show the administration APPROVED a $5 million payment to Liberia in December 2025 in connection with the up-to-1,200 arrangement — approved two months after Liberia's October 2025 commitment to consider accepting third-country nationals; drawn from the migration and refugee assistance fund; stated purpose: support Liberia's immigration system and vulnerable migrants (shelter, food, job training); State found Liberia's non-persecution assurances credible, acknowledged a risk of misuse of the funds, and promised reporting requirements and monitoring. (2) SPENDING CORROBORATION (unlabeled): public spending data shows a $5 million State Department payment to Liberia in January 2026 for 'migration management activities' — the record does NOT explicitly link the payment to the deportation deal (Reuters likewise reported that the US 'awarded Liberia $5 million this year for migration management activities'). (3) DENIAL OF THE FRAMING: Liberia's government announced it had not 'demanded or received any compensation or promise of reward,' while also saying it would 'receive support to help manage the program'; it did not answer the Times' questions about the discrepancy — the documents appear to undercut the 'no compensation' claim without Liberia conceding it. WaPo's internal-records dataset ALSO lists a $5M government pledge on a Liberia entry (cap not available) and a $40M ACA package ($5M government + $35M organizations, cap 500) — the price layer keeps the ACA slice and the 2026-arrangement figure as separate rows; do not merge them. NOT consideration: the Dec 2025 $124M health-sector MOU (a health commitment; Liberia denies it was compensation) and the visa-validity extension for Liberians (12→36 months, Oct 29, 2025). The naive '$124M ÷ 1,200 = $103,333 per person' figure is FALSE and is excluded from this registry's price layer with reasons.", "consideration_disclosed": true, "scope": "ACA: protection-claims examination with Refugee Convention / CAT / non-refoulement safeguards; implementation requires operating procedures and is subject to funds/technical capacity. 2026 arrangement: up to 1,200 third-country nationals over the next year (Liberia's Ministry of Information announcement, Aug 18, 2026; New York Times, Aug 21, 2026), with medical authorization to travel.", "removals": "20 people on the first flight, Thu Aug 20, 2026 (Roberts International Airport, Monrovia), transferred outside the ACA; 14 remained in Liberia (nationals of Cameroon, Eritrea, Venezuela, Honduras, Colombia, Brazil, Guatemala; most with withholding/CAT protection). At least five of the 20 resisted deplaning — the first reported case in the program of deportees refusing arrival in a third country (New York Times, Aug 21, 2026): escorting federal agents forced them off the plane, then returned all five to the aircraft; they were told they would be returned to the United States and were flown instead to Equatorial Guinea, where they joined other third-country nationals held at the Bamy Hotel in Malabo (see the Equatorial Guinea entry and the testimony layer). COUNTS RECORDED PER SOURCE, NOT MERGED: the NYT reports 'at least five' resisted; the onward group identified by their counsel (Alexandra Smolyar, Asian Americans Advancing Justice–Atlanta) numbers SIX — four Cuban men, a Brazilian person and a Cameroonian woman; WaPo (Sept 21, 2026) likewise reports six refused to leave the aircraft. DHS said the migrants who refused had been 'deported to a safe third country' and that it was 'applying the law as written'; it did not confirm Equatorial Guinea.", "removals_number": 14, "assurances": "ACA provisions include adherence to the 1951 Convention, 1967 Protocol, CAT and non-refoulement. On Oct 24, 2025 Liberia assured (re Abrego Garcia) he would not be returned to a country of substantial risk.", "legal_challenges": "ACA challenged in U.T. v. Bondi.", "notes": "RETRIEVED Oct 20, 2026: both New York Times Liberia articles (Aug 21, 2026) were supplied in full by Athena and integrated the same night (fact extraction filed in the project sources/ folder) — the $5M is no longer single-source (see consideration), and this flight is documented as the program's first reported ONWARD-REROUTING case: deportees who refused to deplane in one third country flown onward to a second third country.", "sources": [{"label": "Third Country Deportation Watch — Liberia", "url": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/liberia"}, {"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": "NYT — Ngo, Aleaziz & Kanno-Youngs, 'U.S. Agreed to Pay Liberia $5 Million in Connection with Deportees' (Aug 21, 2026)", "url": "https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/21/us/politics/us-liberia-deportees-payment.html"}, {"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": "State Dept FOIA Library — IRIA index", "url": "https://foia.state.gov/FOIALIBRARY/IRIA2.aspx"}], "flights": "ICE Flight Monitor confirmed the first Liberia transfer flight Aug 20, 2026.", "foia": "ACA text not located (IRIA index only); 2026 arrangement never published. 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 Liberia-specific FOIA request for the ACA text was found — gap. (Caution: a FOIA production labelled 'LIBERIA_FL-2026-00021' circulating online is a health-funding MOU, NOT the removal ACA.)", "leverage": {"aid": "$159,467,850 — CY2023 (OECD DAC via World Bank)", "remittances": "21.28% of GDP — 2024", "trade": "36.35% on the Comtrade pair ($80,752,005 ÷ $222,172,066, 2024); ≈6.2% on the World Bank denominator ($1.31B) — both shown because the sources disagree", "s243d": "No §243(d) record found"}, "shadow": "PAYMENT TRACED, LABEL AMBIGUOUS: public spending data shows a $5M State payment to Liberia in January 2026 for 'migration management activities' — the same amount as the December 2025 approval documented in internal State records reviewed by the NYT (Aug 21, 2026) — but the spending record does NOT explicitly tie the payment to the removal deal. Liberia denies receiving 'compensation' while acknowledging program support. The reported non-cash items (visa validity) would not appear in disbursement data at all. Quarterly series: unreachable."}, {"id": "mexico", "country": "Mexico", "region": "north-america", "era": "current", "category": "other", "status": "in_effect", "status_detail": "In effect and by far the highest-volume arrangement — and it is UNWRITTEN. A March 2026 DOJ court filing calls it a 'standing agreement'; the tracker records 'no written agreement' and little transparency.", "instrument": "Unwritten / informal arrangement (some form dates to the first Trump administration, incl. Remain in Mexico and Title 42-era cooperation)", "date_announced": "Not stated (continuous)", "date_signed": "None — unwritten", "entry_into_force": "—", "us_signatory": "—", "partner_signatory": "—", "text_published": "no", "text_url": "", "text_note": "NEVER PUBLISHED — there is no written instrument to publish. The arrangement's existence is documented in litigation (DOJ filing, Mar 2026) and in Mexican INM data obtained through Mexico's transparency system; its terms are nowhere public.", "consideration": "Not disclosed. No payment documented. Context: sustained US pressure backed by trade leverage (USMCA non-extension threats, a 25% tariff announcement, fentanyl/border demands, threats of US military action).", "consideration_disclosed": false, "scope": "Third-country nationals turned back, expelled or deported via the land border — historically Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Venezuela nationals. CBP hands most people to Mexico's INM; most are bussed to Villahermosa or Tapachula. Mexico provides non-Mexicans no legal status/protection route; a 2022 Mexican Supreme Court ruling required reception guidelines that have never been issued.", "removals": "Approximately 20,000 people between Jan 20, 2025 and Aug 15, 2026. INM data (via Mexican information requests): at least 12,983 in 2025 + 5,504 in Jan–Jun 2026. DHS told a federal court (Mar 5, 2026) its own count was 7,257 for a comparable period — several thousand FEWER than INM received; the discrepancy is flagged, not resolved.", "removals_number": 20000, "assurances": "None stated. Mexican officials justify acceptance as 'humanitarian.'", "legal_challenges": "D.V.D. v. DHS (the case includes an order to return a gay Guatemalan man unlawfully sent to Mexico and deported onward to Guatemala).", "notes": "Mexico is the registry's purest documented gap: the largest arrangement has no instrument, no text and no verified FOIA production of arrangement records. A ready-to-file FOIA draft for arrangement records is in the FOIA drafts folder. Separately, several Latin American countries receive Mexican nationals under related arrangements (~3,000 people through Aug 2026, tracker).", "sources": [{"label": "Third Country Deportation Watch — Mexico", "url": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/mexico"}, {"label": "USCRI TCD Tracker", "url": "https://refugees.org/tcdtracker"}], "flights": "Mexico receives most people by land at the border; ICE Flight Monitor counts Mexico among the top flight destinations as well (68 removal flights in April 2026, 28% of that month's total — all removal types).", "foia": "No written instrument exists. 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'). The transfer COUNTS come from Mexican INM responses to Mexican transparency requests (partner-side disclosure, not US FOIA).", "leverage": {"aid": "$231,432,266 — CY2023 (OECD DAC via World Bank)", "remittances": "3.71% of GDP — 2024; the US→Mexico corridor alone was modelled at $65B in 2024 (CGD)", "trade": "81.24% — 2024 ($503,418,271,236 ÷ $619,655,435,118); structural USMCA integration, not comparable in kind to a small state's dependence", "s243d": "No §243(d) record found"}, "shadow": null}, {"id": "moldova", "country": "Moldova", "region": "europe", "era": "current", "category": "uncategorized", "status": "suspended", "status_detail": "Transfers documented March–August 2026. WaPo (Sept 21, 2026) reports Moldova recently ASKED TO PAUSE the arrangement after negative public reaction, and that Moldova states it has NO formal signed agreement — the arrangement's existence is inferred from the transfers and US internal records.", "instrument": "Unknown — agreement undisclosed", "date_announced": "Not stated", "date_signed": "Unknown", "entry_into_force": "Not stated", "us_signatory": "Not stated", "partner_signatory": "Not stated", "text_published": "no", "text_url": "", "text_note": "No instrument in the Case Act (QNI/IRIA) lists swept through July 2026 and no Federal Register notice. 'Details have not been made public' (tracker). Documented gap.", "consideration": "WaPo's internal State Department records (cited directly, Sept 21, 2026) list $250,000 pledged to the government against a maximum of 100 people (no second source for either figure).", "consideration_disclosed": true, "scope": "Not stated. Transferees may stay in Moldova 90 days without a visa. WaPo's internal records describe the cohort as former-Soviet nationals with no criminal history.", "removals": "More than 30 people on 4 flights (Mar 10, 2026: 16; Apr 30: at least 1; Jun 10: 8; Aug 6: number unknown) — including Russians granted withholding of removal. Some stayed; others returned to origin countries.", "removals_number": 30, "assurances": "Not stated.", "legal_challenges": "No known litigation at this time.", "notes": "Moldova was among the countries the US reportedly ASKED in April 2025 (WSJ, via coverage) — the transfers from March 2026 show an arrangement resulted.", "sources": [{"label": "Third Country Deportation Watch — Moldova", "url": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/moldova"}, {"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 appendix confirms a transfer flight Mar 10, 2026; an April 2026 multi-stop flight also called at Moldova.", "foia": "No instrument located; no FOIA record found. Documented gap.", "leverage": null, "shadow": null}, {"id": "palau", "country": "Palau", "region": "pacific", "era": "current", "category": "uncategorized", "status": "in_effect", "status_detail": "Signed Dec 24, 2025 — implementation contested and legislatively blocked, yet screening proceeded: the Senate passed SB 12-53 SD1 (12–3, Jan 19–20, 2026) barring entry, residence and employment of persons removed by foreign governments — drafted to halt MOU implementation — and SB 12-54 (unanimous) calling a national referendum on accepting US deportees; the Senate sued President Whipps (emergency halt denied; case active as of Apr 14, 2026). Screening nonetheless began in spring 2026: the US list of third-country nationals arrived ~late March 2026 and Minister Jennifer Olegeriil confirmed Palau had 14 days to screen it (Island Times, Apr 14, 2026). PRE-SIGNING OPPOSITION: Senate letters in July and October 2025 advised against proceeding ('We strongly advise against proceeding further on this matter'; Palau 'cannot afford to overpromise') and the Council of Chiefs rejected the proposal (Palau's 'precarious and fragile situation as a tiny island nation') — all before the Christmas Eve signing (Island Times, Jan 6, 2026); the Council of Chiefs' resistance later eased after Deputy Secretary Landau's September 2025 visit and a local working-group assessment of benefits, risks and community impacts (NYT, Dec 24, 2025).", "instrument": "Memorandum of Understanding for Cooperation on the Transfer of Third-Country Nationals (signed Dec 24, 2025, Koror)", "date_announced": "2025-12-24", "date_signed": "2025-12-24", "entry_into_force": "On signature. Terms verified from Island Times' reporting on the MOU text (Jan 6, 2026): one-year renewable framework, operative on signature, NONBINDING (creates no new legal obligations, per President Whipps); either side may withdraw on 30 days' notice. The US transmitted the MOU to the US Congress on Dec 31, 2025 (Island Times, Jan 20, 2026)", "us_signatory": "US Ambassador Joel Ehrendreich (signed Dec 24, 2025, Koror — NYT, Dec 24, 2025)", "partner_signatory": "Minister of State Gustav Aitaro (NYT, Dec 24, 2025, quoting the Palau president's office statement); President Surangel Whipps Jr. drove the deal", "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 #2026-0010QN, January 2026 ZIP), disclosed March 2026. President Whipps claimed no legislative consent was needed because existing law authorizes admission of foreign workers.", "consideration": "$7.5M grant 'to address the needs of relevant Palau public services' + $6M for civil-service pension reforms + $2M for security advisers/law enforcement = a $15.5M announced package (Reuters, both governments, Dec 24, 2025). Corroborated as ANNOUNCED commitments; disbursement is a documented gap (FY2026 reported US obligations for Palau, $9.57M so far, are below the package and cannot itemize it; Compact of Free Association flows swamp the signal). Context: ~$900M in US aid over 20 years under the Compact (renewed 2024). NYT (Dec 24, 2025), quoting the Palau president's office: the $7.5M targets 'public service and infrastructure needs'; the $6M pension top-up comes ON TOP of $20M previously granted to keep the civil-service pension system from collapse; $2M is for new law-enforcement initiatives; and the US also committed to a new national hospital. IMPORTANT (Island Times, Jan 6, 2026): the MOU itself specifies NO funding amounts — its funding clause reads 'subject to the availability of funds,' and financial assistance was discussed without commitments or amounts in the MOU text; the package above consists of commitments announced ALONGSIDE the MOU, not terms inside it (Senate debaters made the same point: the MOU does not guarantee the $7.5M). Island Times (Dec 30, 2025) summarizes the same package: $7.5M for hosting costs + pension reform funding + law-enforcement initiatives + a feasibility study for a new Belau National Hospital.", "consideration_disclosed": true, "scope": "CAP CORRECTED Oct 20, 2026 (Island Times, Jan 6, 2026, reading the MOU text): 'no more than 75 previously transferred individuals present in Palau at any one time' — a CONCURRENT-PRESENCE cap, NOT a lifetime/total cap of 75; the price layer's Palau rows are labeled per concurrent slot accordingly. ELIGIBILITY: single adults or family units with final removal orders; UNACCOMPANIED MINORS EXCLUDED; the US states it does not intend to propose people with known non-immigration criminal convictions or Interpol notices; transfers limited to nationals of countries with which Palau has diplomatic relations. Palau has FULL DISCRETION to accept or reject each individual the US proposes (case-by-case). Admission under existing Palauan immigration law — temporary visas / nonresident work permits; lawful employment with consent; Palau retains authority to revoke status or deport for violations, subject to non-refoulement and CAT. US pledges: share biographical, medical and criminal information; conduct health screenings; humane transfer conditions. Lists are provided 14 days ahead (NYT, Dec 24, 2025: prospective arrivals screened nationally, ~10 at a time). SCREENING-WINDOW FIGURES — both recorded as reported, not harmonized: the agreement gives Palau 14 DAYS TO SCREEN once names are provided (Island Times, Apr 14, 2026); Senate floor debate cited 14 days' NOTICE before transfers and 10 days for Palau to SELECT individuals (Island Times, Jan 20, 2026). No permanent residence even for those with credible fear findings.", "removals": "Counts recorded per source, NOT merged. WaPo internal records (June 2026): 3 people sent. Island Times (June 19, 2026) documents the FIRST transfer under the MOU as ONE person: the US submitted nearly 10 names for the first group; the list was reduced until a single middle-aged Vietnamese man remained; he arrived in May 2026, was met at the airport by the Office of the President and the Bureau of Immigration, housed in a Palau Community College dorm room (with a local SIM card; in contact with family in the US and Vietnam), and DEPARTED Palau within two weeks — IOM representatives met him during his stay and, per Island Times' sources, IOM facilitated and assisted his departure (IOM did not respond to the paper). TCDW reports 3 people in total (May 2026: 1, who left two weeks later; Jul 8, 2026: 2), all reportedly Vietnamese, via commercial aircraft. The snapshots differ by source, method and date; the registry does not reconcile them.", "removals_number": 3, "assurances": "Palau assured it would not persecute transferees or return them to persecution. Palau is not a signatory to the 1951 Convention and lacks immigration laws providing legal stay.", "legal_challenges": "RECEIVING-STATE constitutional/political challenge — distinct from US litigation, and carried in this entry field because the registry's litigation layer covers US dockets/exhibits: the Palau Senate SUED President Whipps over the MOU; the court DENIED the requested temporary restraining order / emergency halt (Island Times, Feb 13, 2026: 'Lawsuit seeks emergency halt to plan to accept U.S. deportees in Palau'); the Supreme Court denied the Senate's stay on Feb 21, 2026 (RNZ Pacific); the case remained ACTIVE as of Apr 14, 2026, even as screening proceeded (Island Times). Sen. Mason Whipps (chair, Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs) objected in writing that he was included in the filing WITHOUT his knowledge or consent, and noted the Senate was represented by a private attorney rather than its own counsel. A citizens' group also challenged the deal. Legislative challenges: SB 12-53 SD1 and SB 12-54 (see status). No US litigation.", "notes": "Population ~18,000. At full occupancy the deal payment alone is $7.5M ÷ 75 = $100,000 per CONCURRENT SLOT — the registry's extreme outlier (see price layer; the 75 is a max-present-at-one-time cap, not a total). CONSENT/TRANSPARENCY DETAIL (Senate floor debate, Island Times, Jan 20, 2026): Sen. Siegfried Nakamura, reading the MOU aloud, noted that transferees receive information about Palau only AFTER boarding their flights from the US, and that Palauan officials may accompany them only after boarding. Whipps said at signing that transferees would be housed initially in Palau Community College dormitories and matched with employers, and that Palau already hosts 6,000+ foreign workers (Island Times, Dec 30, 2025). RETRIEVED Oct 20, 2026: the Island Times MOU-terms article (Jan 6, 2026) plus four further Island Times pieces (Dec 30, 2025; Jan 20, 2026; Apr 14, 2026; June 19, 2026) were supplied by Athena in full and integrated the same night.", "sources": [{"label": "Third Country Deportation Watch — Palau", "url": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/palau"}, {"label": "NYT — Ephrat Livni, 'Palau Agrees to Take Up to 75 Migrants from the U.S.' (Dec 24, 2025)", "url": "https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/24/us/politics/palau-us-migrants.html"}, {"label": "RNZ Pacific via Evening Report — court denies Senate stay", "url": "https://eveningreport.nz/2026/02/21/palau-court-denies-senate-bid-to-stop-us-deportee-deal/"}, {"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": "State Dept FOIA Library — QNI collection", "url": "https://foia.state.gov/FOIALIBRARY/QNI2.aspx"}], "flights": "Transfers were by commercial aircraft; no ICE Air charter in the Flight Monitor appendix.", "foia": "Text published via the Case Act channel (QNI), not via FOIA. No FOIA request for the text located.", "leverage": {"aid": "$8,051,447 — CY2023 (OECD DAC series only; Compact of Free Association flows are not captured comprehensively by DAC)", "remittances": "0.80% of GDP — 2023", "trade": "77.52% computed — NOT RELIABLE: US-reported imports $2,325,379 ÷ a rounded World Bank exports total of $3M (2024). Quoted only with this caveat", "s243d": "No §243(d) record found"}, "shadow": "DATA UNREACHABLE for the deal window: signing (Dec 24, 2025) postdates the fully reported data year and Compact flows swamp the signal. No honest surge/no-surge verdict yet."}, {"id": "panama", "country": "Panama", "region": "latin-america-caribbean", "era": "current", "category": "other", "status": "in_effect", "status_detail": "In effect — a July 2024 MOU (expanded Feb 2025 as a 'bridge' arrangement) and a new April 2026 transfer arrangement.", "instrument": "(1) MOU signed July 1, 2024; Feb 2025 expansion described in later reporting as an 'unwritten agreement' — both descriptions are in the record; (2) Third-Country National Transfer Arrangement (exchange of notes, Panama City, Apr 9–10, 2026)", "date_announced": "Not stated", "date_signed": "2024-07-01 and 2026-04-10", "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": "The 2026 arrangement's notes are in the QNI May 2026 ZIP (Case Act #2026-0035QN). The 2024 MOU is linked via DHS/Panamanian sources on the tracker page.", "consideration": "US paid Panama $14M as of May 2025 — but for Panama's OWN repatriation flights under the 2024 MOU (60 flights deporting northbound migrants from Panama), NOT for receiving US third-country nationals; the registry's price layer therefore does not pair it with the Feb 2025 cohort. For the Feb 2025 bridge arrangement the US financed stays and onward deportation. Under the 2026 notes the US covers operational/logistical costs including per diem and transport. Context: US threats to assert greater control over the Panama Canal.", "consideration_disclosed": true, "scope": "2026: Panama accepts Latin Americans from Spanish-speaking countries (except Cuba), or others at its discretion, for transit to origin or lawful-status country; up to 50 people per month; 30-day transit document; a May 2026 executive order creates a Special and Temporary Transit Regime. Feb 2025: Panama as 'bridge' — receive, then return to origin.", "removals": "At least 360 people on 9+ flights: 299 in Feb 2025 (Feb 12/14/15 flights; nationals of Afghanistan, Cameroon, China, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan and others), plus 60+ under the 2026 arrangement. 170 of the Feb 2025 group were returned to origin within a week.", "removals_number": 360, "assurances": "The 2026 arrangement is expressly subject to 'international nonrefoulement obligations.'", "legal_challenges": "RAICES v. Noem (US); a suit against Panama before the Inter-American Commission over jungle-camp detention; detention challenged in Panamanian court.", "notes": "The Feb 2025 group was held in a Panama City hotel, then a remote Darién camp for nearly a month, then released with temporary permits making no mention of asylum access. First-person accounts are in the Testimony layer (H15–H17).", "sources": [{"label": "Third Country Deportation Watch — Panama", "url": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/panama"}, {"label": "Human Rights Watch — 'Nobody Cared, Nobody Listened'", "url": "https://www.hrw.org/report/2025/04/24/nobody-cared-nobody-listened/the-us-expulsion-of-third-country-nationals-to"}, {"label": "State Dept FOIA Library — QNI collection", "url": "https://foia.state.gov/FOIALIBRARY/QNI2.aspx"}], "flights": "ICE Flight Monitor appendix confirms the three Feb 2025 C-17 flights (Feb 12, 14, 15).", "foia": "2026 text published via the Case Act channel (QNI). CREW/Lawfare's Case Act suit (not FOIA) names Panama among the detention agreements State failed to post; it survived most of a motion to dismiss Aug 31, 2026.", "leverage": {"aid": "$48,120,483 — CY2023 (OECD DAC via World Bank)", "remittances": "0.61% of GDP — 2024", "trade": "20.18% — 2024 Comtrade pair ($233,792,061 ÷ $1,158,357,714); caveat: the World Bank merchandise-exports total for Panama 2024 is $13.18B — the series treat free-zone trade differently", "s243d": "No §243(d) record found"}, "shadow": null}, {"id": "paraguay", "country": "Paraguay", "region": "latin-america-caribbean", "era": "current", "category": "aca", "status": "in_effect", "status_detail": "In effect — Aug 2025 MOU for examination of protection requests, expanded by a Feb 2026 additional MOU on transfers.", "instrument": "(1) MOU for Cooperation in the Examination of Protection Requests (DHS + State ↔ Paraguay's CONARE), signed Aug 14, 2025, Washington; (2) Additional MOU Concerning the Transfer of Third-Country Nationals, signed Feb 19, 2026", "date_announced": "Not stated", "date_signed": "2025-08-14", "entry_into_force": "2025-08-14 (on signature, per the MOU text)", "us_signatory": "US Department of Homeland Security and Department of State", "partner_signatory": "Paraguayan National Commission for Stateless Persons and Refugees (CONARE)", "text_published": "yes", "text_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/12/23/2025-23797/agreement-between-the-us-department-of-homeland-security-and-the-us-department-of-state-and-the", "text_note": "MOU published in the Federal Register, 90 FR 60114 (Dec 23, 2025), and as TIAS 25-814; Case Act #2025-0125. The Feb 2026 additional MOU is in the QNI March 2026 ZIP (#2026-0024QN).", "consideration": "The MOU states nothing in it commits either party to disburse or allocate funds; Paraguay's government says its Treasury incurs no cost and returns are facilitated by IOM through US funding. WaPo's dataset lists $3.1M pledged to organizations against a 300-person cap for a not-operational STCA entry (dataset-only). Context: a Dec 15, 2025 framework for US military presence; Paraguay's Chamber of Deputies approved a defense agreement Mar 11, 2026.", "consideration_disclosed": true, "scope": "Art. 1: the US PROPOSES transfers of third-country nationals who may seek protection; CONARE considers case-by-case — NO numerical cap in the text. Art. 3.3: no unaccompanied minors. Art. 3.1: no return to origin before a final protection decision. Paraguay stated it receives 25 people per month (a statement, not a textual cap). The Feb 2026 addendum extends the scheme to third-country nationals 'not processed by the United States.'", "removals": "At least 77 people on 6 flights (Apr 22 – Aug 20, 2026). None had accessed Paraguay's asylum system as of late July 2026; transferees stayed 72 hours to 15 days before onward return.", "removals_number": 77, "assurances": "Non-return before a final protection decision (MOU Art. 3.1).", "legal_challenges": "Challenged in U.T. v. Bondi.", "notes": "One of the few instruments whose full terms can be read in the registry's primary sources — TIAS 25-814 is linked from the entry.", "sources": [{"label": "Third Country Deportation Watch — Paraguay", "url": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/paraguay"}, {"label": "TIAS 25-814 — MOU text (govinfo PDF)", "url": "https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GOVPUB-S-PURL-gpo253930/pdf/GOVPUB-S-PURL-gpo253930.pdf"}, {"label": "Federal Register — Paraguay MOU, 90 FR 60114", "url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/12/23/2025-23797/agreement-between-the-us-department-of-homeland-security-and-the-us-department-of-state-and-the"}], "flights": "ICE Flight Monitor: first-time Paraguay transfer flight in April 2026, with repeats through August 2026.", "foia": "Texts published via Federal Register / TIAS / 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": "rwanda", "country": "Rwanda", "region": "africa", "era": "current", "category": "other", "status": "in_effect", "status_detail": "In effect; four transfer flights between April 2025 and Aug 2026.", "instrument": "Memorandum of Understanding Concerning the Removal of Third Country Nationals (signed June 3, 2025, Kigali)", "date_announced": "Discussions from the start of the second Trump administration", "date_signed": "2025-06-03", "entry_into_force": "Not stated", "us_signatory": "Not stated", "partner_signatory": "Not stated (Rwandan spokesperson Yolande Makolo announced terms Aug 5, 2025)", "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 #2025-0028QN, July 2025 ZIP); the text was also published by reporters in early Oct 2025 (DocumentCloud).", "consideration": "$7.5M upfront disbursement 'to strengthen Rwanda's border and migration management capacity' — documented in the agreement as read by HRW, in the Senate report, and in WaPo's dataset. NOT corroborated in spending data: no USASpending award record was located, and a $7.5M item would be invisible inside Rwanda's $206.9M FY2025 obligations total either way. Rwanda's own side never stated the figure (its official described an undisclosed grant signed July 2025). Earlier and separate: a leaked April 2025 State cable describes a $100,000 first-year payment for one named man's relocation — a different, earlier instrument; do not merge.", "consideration_disclosed": true, "scope": "Up to 250 third-country nationals; Rwanda approves each individual and provides 'appropriate legal status' under Rwandan law. Single-source (anonymous Rwandan official via Reuters): people still serving sentences or with pending cases are rejected; child sex offenders barred; transferees are free to leave Rwanda; the 250 cap can be expanded by mutual consent.", "removals": "23 people on 4 flights: April 2025 (1 Iraqi, commercial — the pre-MOU 'model' case), Aug 16–17, 2025 (7), Aug 27, 2026 (15). Of the Aug 2025 group, 3 wished to return home and 4 to stay (Rwandan spokesperson).", "removals_number": 23, "assurances": "'Appropriate legal status' under Rwandan law (agreement). No non-refoulement assurance quoted in the tracker record.", "legal_challenges": "No known litigation over the US–Rwanda agreement. (The UK–Rwanda 2022 deal was ruled unlawful by the UK Supreme Court — context only, a different agreement.)", "notes": "Context: US-brokered critical-minerals agreement and Rwanda's DRC/M23 role (US sanctions on Rwanda's military followed in Mar 2026). FARA record: the Rwanda Development Board retained Yorktown Solutions at $80K/month from late March 2025 ($719,850 paid in 2025, OpenSecrets) — correlation only, not consideration.", "sources": [{"label": "Third Country Deportation Watch — Rwanda", "url": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/rwanda"}, {"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": "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": "State Dept FOIA Library — QNI collection", "url": "https://foia.state.gov/FOIALIBRARY/QNI2.aspx"}], "flights": "ICE Flight Monitor appendix confirms transfer flights Aug 16 and Aug 17, 2025; its Aug 2026 report counts 2 more Rwanda flights that month.", "foia": "Text published via the Case Act channel (QNI) — the Senate report itself cites it as 'available through the State Department's FOIA Library on Qualifying Non-Binding Instruments,' i.e. the Case Act library, NOT a FOIA 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').", "leverage": {"aid": "$178,903,885 — CY2023 (OECD DAC via World Bank)", "remittances": "3.42% of GDP — 2024", "trade": "0.89% — 2024 ($27,220,462 ÷ $3,041,975,409)", "s243d": "No §243(d) record found"}, "shadow": "NO ANOMALY OBSERVED in the aggregate; the $7.5M award itself was NOT traced in spending data (a $7.5M item is ~3.6% of Rwanda's $206.9M FY2025 total — the aggregate can neither confirm nor refute it). Quarterly series: unreachable."}, {"id": "sierra-leone", "country": "Sierra Leone", "region": "africa", "era": "current", "category": "temporary-transfer", "status": "in_effect", "status_detail": "In effect; four transfer flights between May and Aug 2026.", "instrument": "Exchange of diplomatic notes (Freetown, Nov 20, 2025 & Jan 26, 2026)", "date_announced": "Not stated", "date_signed": "2026-01-26", "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 #2026-0033QN, April 2026 ZIP).", "consideration": "$1.5M from the US government — reported (local media: a US-funded contract with Kenvah Solutions (SL) for reception/temporary accommodation; HRW: the US 'reportedly paid $1.5 million'; WaPo's dataset lists $1.5M to the government). Hedged in the sources themselves. Context: late 2025, the administration pledged $129M to Sierra Leone's public health system (may have influenced negotiations). The Foreign Minister stated the US formally requested acceptance as a condition for lifting the visa ban imposed Jan 21, 2026 — not yet lifted.", "consideration_disclosed": true, "scope": "Sierra Leone permits nonviolent offenders only (WaPo internal records). Sierra Leone will consider accepting a maximum of 300 ECOWAS citizens present in the US per year. Temporary transit only: 'no long-term settlement is provided for or permitted' (pamphlet given to arrivals); first group told they would return home within two weeks.", "removals": "At least 43 people on 4 flights (May 20: 9; Jun 18: 12; Jul 31: 10–12 — sources differ; Aug 29: 10+). Many from the first three flights have since been refouled to origin countries.", "removals_number": 43, "assurances": "Sierra Leone asserts ECOWAS citizens removed there 'would not be subjected to persecution … or torture' in Sierra Leone or any onward country.", "legal_challenges": "No known litigation at this time.", "notes": "Sierra Leone was §243(d)-sanctioned on Sept 13, 2017 (later reduced, not fully lifted; reduction date is a gap) — sanctioned in 2017, signing removal notes in 2025–26 (see refusal map). One transferee's account is in the Testimony layer (H20).", "sources": [{"label": "Third Country Deportation Watch — Sierra Leone", "url": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/sierra-leone"}, {"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 Sierra Leone transfer flights from May 2026, including an Aug 2026 multi-stop flight (CAR → Sierra Leone → Ghana).", "foia": "Text published via the Case Act channel (QNI), not via FOIA. No FOIA request for the text located.", "leverage": {"aid": "$62,390,251 — CY2023 (OECD DAC via World Bank)", "remittances": "4.60% of GDP — 2024", "trade": "2.06% — mixed-source (US-reported imports $29,605,194 ÷ World Bank exports $1.437B, 2024)", "s243d": "YES — imposed Sep 13, 2017; later REDUCED, not fully lifted (reduction date: gap)"}, "shadow": null}, {"id": "south-sudan", "country": "South Sudan", "region": "africa", "era": "current", "category": "incarceration", "status": "in_effect", "status_detail": "In effect for a single flight only, as far as the record shows — the notes agree to ONE flight. The men were held over a month in a converted shipping container at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, en route.", "instrument": "Exchange of diplomatic notes agreeing to a single flight (Juba, May 10 & 12, 2025)", "date_announced": "Not stated", "date_signed": "2025-05-12", "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 #2025-0033QN, August 2025 ZIP), made public Jan 2026 — the only written agreement text for this entry.", "consideration": "No payment documented. South Sudan ASKED (May 12, 2025 confidential communication, via AP) for: sanctions lifted on businessman Benjamin Bol Mel; reversal of visa restrictions on its nationals; US investment in oil/gas/minerals; US backing to prosecute First Vice President Machar. No indication the US granted any of it. Flight/Djibouti housing costs ($427K + $307K, Senate via HRW) are costs, not consideration. A '$10–20M aid deal' claim from a low-quality source was checked and REJECTED.", "consideration_disclosed": false, "scope": "A single flight of 13 named people (listed with ages/convictions). The US ultimately sent 1 person from that list plus 7 entirely different people.", "removals": "8 men on one flight, July 5, 2025 (nationals of Cuba, Mexico, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, Sudan), after 6 weeks detained at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti. As of Sept 10, 2026, 5 of 8 remained in South Sudan, detained in a guarded complex in Juba.", "removals_number": 8, "assurances": "The notes state South Sudan will treat transferees 'in full compliance with its international legal obligations' and will not return anyone to a country of credible persecution risk.", "legal_challenges": "D.V.D. v. DHS — the flight breached the preliminary injunction; the Supreme Court's June 23, 2025 stay (and July 3 clarification) allowed the removals; the underlying policy was later declared unlawful (Feb 25, 2026), stayed on appeal. Two of the men's accounts are in the Testimony layer (H18–H19).", "notes": "On April 5, 2025 — five weeks before these notes — Secretary Rubio revoked all visas held by South Sudanese passport holders for failure to accept repatriated citizens: a §243(d) action in substance, though the announcement never names the section. Sanctioned Apr 5, 2025 → accepted third-country deportees Jul 2025 (see refusal map).", "sources": [{"label": "Third Country Deportation Watch — South Sudan", "url": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/south-sudan"}, {"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"}, {"label": "AILA — DOS visa revocation for South Sudan, Apr 5, 2025", "url": "https://www.aila.org/library/dos-to-revoke-visas-and-issue-travel-restrictions-on-south-sudan"}], "flights": "ICE Flight Monitor appendix confirms the July 4, 2025 C-130 flight from Ambouli, Djibouti to South Sudan.", "foia": "Text published via the Case Act channel (QNI), 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'). Asian Law Caucus FOIA litigation (N.D. Cal. 3:2025cv10405) covers third-country deportation records including South Sudan destinations (policies/data, not the notes).", "leverage": {"aid": "$709,884,949 — CY2023 (OECD DAC via World Bank)", "remittances": "9.49% of GDP — 2015 (latest non-null; series null 2016–2024 — stale)", "trade": "0.09% — mixed-source (US-reported imports $808,313 ÷ World Bank exports $891M, 2024)", "s243d": "YES in substance — Apr 5, 2025 visa revocation for failure to accept repatriated citizens (the announcement never names §243(d); basis inferred by analysts). Lift status: gap"}, "shadow": "NO ANOMALY OBSERVED — all series fall steeply; the consideration South Sudan sought was non-cash (sanctions/visa asks), none granted on the record. Quarterly series: unreachable."}, {"id": "st-kitts-and-nevis", "country": "St. Kitts and Nevis", "region": "latin-america-caribbean", "era": "current", "category": "uncategorized", "status": "in_effect", "status_detail": "In effect; first transfer May 19, 2026.", "instrument": "Memorandum of Understanding Concerning the Removal of Third Country Nationals (signed Dec 12, 2025, Washington)", "date_announced": "Early January 2026", "date_signed": "2025-12-12", "entry_into_force": "Not stated", "us_signatory": "Not stated", "partner_signatory": "Not stated (PM Terrence Drew made the carve-out statements)", "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 #2026-0011QN, January 2026 ZIP), disclosed March 2026.", "consideration": "Operational procedures to establish US assistance for food, housing and other support; no amount in the MOU record. WaPo's dataset lists $200,400 pledged to the government against a 28-person cap (dataset-only — the MOU itself leaves caps to later operational procedures, a conflict the registry flags).", "consideration_disclosed": true, "scope": "CARICOM nationals eligible, excluding people with violent or sexual-offence backgrounds. PM Drew had carved out Haitian nationals (the MOU itself speaks only of operational procedures setting annual caps and US assistance).", "removals": "3 people (from Belize and Jamaica) on one flight, May 19, 2026.", "removals_number": 3, "assurances": "Standard assurance of treatment per international legal obligations. St. Kitts and Nevis has not signed the 1967 Refugee Protocol.", "legal_challenges": "No known litigation at this time.", "notes": "—", "sources": [{"label": "Third Country Deportation Watch — St. Kitts and Nevis", "url": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/st-kitts-and-nevis"}, {"label": "State Dept FOIA Library — QNI collection", "url": "https://foia.state.gov/FOIALIBRARY/QNI2.aspx"}], "flights": "No per-country count in the Flight Monitor appendix; transfer documented by the tracker and the government.", "foia": "Text published via the Case Act channel (QNI), not via FOIA. No FOIA request for the text located.", "leverage": null, "shadow": null}, {"id": "st-lucia", "country": "St. Lucia", "region": "latin-america-caribbean", "era": "current", "category": "uncategorized", "status": "in_effect", "status_detail": "In effect: MOU announced Jan 2026 (non-binding, per the government); cabinet approved an implementation memorandum Aug 2026; first transfer Aug 31, 2026.", "instrument": "Memorandum of Understanding (non-binding, per government announcement) — announced but NOT released publicly", "date_announced": "January 2026", "date_signed": "2026 (day not stated)", "entry_into_force": "Not stated", "us_signatory": "Not stated", "partner_signatory": "Not stated (Ministry of External Affairs memorandum approved by cabinet, Aug 2026)", "text_published": "no", "text_url": "", "text_note": "NEVER PUBLISHED — 'announced but not yet released publicly' (tracker). No St. Lucia instrument in the Case Act (QNI/IRIA) lists swept through July 2026. Documented gap.", "consideration": "The Aug 2026 cabinet memorandum outlines St. Lucia's financial requirements and requires the US to fund an international organization to serve transferees (IOM engaged in final negotiations); no amount stated. WaPo's dataset lists money as 'Not available' against a 28-person cap. Context: Jan 21, 2026 — State paused immigrant visa issuance for St. Lucia applicants.", "consideration_disclosed": false, "scope": "Government discretion to accept/reject every proposed individual. Eligibility (Aug 2026 memorandum): final or expedited removal orders + DHS medical authorization. Excluded: unaccompanied minors, St. Lucian citizens/nationals, people with criminal records known to US authorities (other than immigration violations). 10 people per quarter. US provides the manifest 5 days ahead; St. Lucia has 2 days to decide.", "removals": "6 people on one flight, Aug 31, 2026 (2 Cuba, 1 Kyrgyzstan, 1 'New Guinea' as the tracker states it — likely Papua New Guinea, recorded verbatim, 1 Jordan, 1 Indonesia). Some held protection grants.", "removals_number": 6, "assurances": "None stated — St. Lucia is not party to the 1951 Convention / 1967 Protocol (tracker concern).", "legal_challenges": "No known litigation at this time.", "notes": "—", "sources": [{"label": "Third Country Deportation Watch — St. Lucia", "url": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/st-lucia"}], "flights": "ICE Flight Monitor confirmed the first St. Lucia transfer flight Aug 31, 2026.", "foia": "Text never published; no FOIA record found. Documented gap.", "leverage": null, "shadow": null}, {"id": "uganda", "country": "Uganda", "region": "africa", "era": "current", "category": "aca", "status": "in_effect", "status_detail": "In effect (the ACA); implementation was reportedly delayed around Uganda's 2026 election. A separate press-reported removal MOU has never been published and may not exist as a distinct instrument.", "instrument": "(1) ACA for Cooperation in the Examination of Protection Requests (signed July 29, 2025, Kampala — the tracker's At a Glance says July 19; the FR/IRIA record says July 29, which the registry follows); (2) reported separate TCN-removal MOU (Aug 2025 press, CBS internal documents) — NO such instrument appears in any public list", "date_announced": "August 2025 (press reporting; Uganda's foreign ministry first denied, then confirmed a 'temporary arrangement' on Aug 21, 2025)", "date_signed": "2025-07-29", "entry_into_force": "2025-07-29", "us_signatory": "Not stated", "partner_signatory": "Not stated (Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary Vincent Bagiire confirmed the first arrivals)", "text_published": "partial", "text_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/09/03/2025-16808/agreement-between-the-government-of-the-united-states-of-america-and-the-government-of-the-republic", "text_note": "The ACA text is public: Federal Register, 90 FR 42597 (Sept 3, 2025); Case Act #2025-0120. A separate TCN-removal MOU's text has NEVER been published — no QNI/IRIA entry, no second FR text. A ready-to-file FOIA draft for it is in the FOIA drafts folder.", "consideration": "No payment disclosed for the ACA. Uganda sought: lower US tariffs, restored AGOA eligibility, increased US assistance, an end to the immigrant-visa pause and restrictions on officials. WaPo's dataset lists $9M pledged to organizations against a 500-person cap (dataset-only; the FR text specifies neither amount nor cap). 'Development funds' were mentioned vaguely in analysis — no amount on any fetched page. US totals for Uganda FELL in FY2025 across every series; no deal-linked award was traced.", "consideration_disclosed": true, "scope": "Uganda's public statement excludes people with criminal records and unaccompanied minors and prefers African nationals (WaPo's internal records state the condition categorically: Uganda will take African nationals ONLY) — BUT the 'no criminals' exclusion is in Uganda's STATEMENT, not in the agreement text as read (the text mentions minors). Registry records the mismatch rather than merging them. Case-by-case discretion retained.", "removals": "8 people on one flight, Apr 2026 (dated Apr 1 by Uganda's MFA, Apr 2 by the trackers — one-day discrepancy flagged). By July 2026: 2 granted refugee status in Uganda, 1 fled, 4 returned home, 1 awaiting repatriation. Separately, 2,727 asylum cases pretermitted for removal to Uganda (Dec 2025–June 2026) and HRW counts 2,914 pretermission-based cases (Jan 2025–Jul 2026) — pretermissions are not removals.", "removals_number": 8, "assurances": "None stated beyond the ACA framework.", "legal_challenges": "Challenged in U.T. v. Bondi. In Uganda: opposition leader Joel Ssenyonyi demanded answers on the floor of Parliament (Sept 4, 2025); a Uganda Law Society challenge was filed in 2026. Before confirming the deal, State Minister Okello Oryem called it 'complete rubbish' to AP and denied it to Reuters.", "notes": "FARA record: Uganda retained Skyline Capitol at $20K/month (filing July 2026 — AFTER the deal and first flight; documents post-deal Washington presence, not deal-time lobbying).", "sources": [{"label": "Third Country Deportation Watch — Uganda", "url": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/uganda"}, {"label": "Federal Register — Uganda ACA, 90 FR 42597", "url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/09/03/2025-16808/agreement-between-the-government-of-the-united-states-of-america-and-the-government-of-the-republic"}, {"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 the Apr 2, 2026 transfer flight to Uganda.", "foia": "ACA published in the Federal Register (not FOIA); the reported removal MOU has never been published and no FOIA request or litigation for it was found — gap. 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": "$683,201,111 — CY2023 (OECD DAC via World Bank)", "remittances": "2.65% of GDP — 2024", "trade": "1.70% — 2024 ($136,718,904 ÷ $8,039,344,376)", "s243d": "No §243(d) record found (Uganda's Jan 2026 immigrant-visa pause listing is a different authority)"}, "shadow": "NO ANOMALY OBSERVED — Uganda's totals fell in FY2025 across every series; no ACA-linked award was located. Quarterly series: unreachable."}, {"id": "uzbekistan", "country": "Uzbekistan", "region": "asia", "era": "current", "category": "uncategorized", "status": "in_effect", "status_detail": "In effect as a partnership — but characterize carefully: this is a deportation BRIDGE / repatriation operation, not classic third-country hosting. Uzbekistan organized and FULLY FUNDED the April 2025 charter itself.", "instrument": "Unknown — a DHS-announced 'partnership' facilitating deportations; no formal instrument type named", "date_announced": "April 2025", "date_signed": "Unknown", "entry_into_force": "Not stated", "us_signatory": "Not stated", "partner_signatory": "Not stated", "text_published": "no", "text_url": "", "text_note": "No text located — only the DHS partnership announcement. No instrument in the Case Act lists swept. Documented gap.", "consideration": "INVERTED: Uzbekistan provided the plane and fully funded the deportation operation (DHS). No US payment documented. Context: deepening Western ties, US company investment, Uzbekistan's WTO accession effort.", "consideration_disclosed": true, "scope": "Deportations of nationals of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to Tashkent, with Kazakh/Kyrgyz nationals travelling onward home. Uzbek officials said the country 'did not want to become a regional hub' for non-Uzbek deportees.", "removals": "131 people on the Apr 30, 2025 New York–Tashkent charter (Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan nationals — how many were third-country nationals vs Uzbek citizens is unclear). Plus 6 third-country nationals on Mar 10, 2026 (2 Russia, 1 Armenia, 1 Uzbekistan, 2 unknown); a possible Sept 2025 flight is unconfirmed.", "removals_number": 137, "assurances": "Uzbek Foreign Ministry (Telegram): repatriation organized 'on the basis of humanitarian and legal principles, ensuring dignified and safe return.' Uzbekistan has not acceded to the Refugee Convention and has no asylum-system safeguards.", "legal_challenges": "No known litigation at this time.", "notes": "MPI classifies this as a 'Deportation Bridge Agreement.' DHS called the April 2025 flight the first such operation of the second Trump term.", "sources": [{"label": "Third Country Deportation Watch — Uzbekistan", "url": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/uzbekistan"}, {"label": "RFE/RL via GlobalSecurity — Uzbekistan funds the flight", "url": "https://www.globalsecurity.org/security/library/news/2025/05/sec-250501-rferl01.htm"}, {"label": "Migration Policy Institute — typology analysis", "url": "https://www.migrationpolicy.org/commentary/us-third-country-deportation-agreements-are-more-about-fear-numbers"}], "flights": "ICE Flight Monitor appendix confirms the Apr 30, 2025 Uzbekistan Airways B788 flight and a Mar 10, 2026 flight to Uzbekistan.", "foia": "No text located; no FOIA record found. Documented gap.", "leverage": null, "shadow": null}]}