{"meta": {"title": "Third-Country Removal Agreements Registry", "current_as_of": "October 20, 2026", "publisher": "Strait Research", "headline": {"total_entries": 43, "agreements_tracked": 40, "current_wave": 36, "legacy": 3, "canada": 1, "annex": 3, "texts_never_published": 7, "texts_partial": 2, "texts_unknown": 1, "texts_published": 30, "consideration_undisclosed": 13, "documented_removals_sum": 26681}, "program_note": "Program-wide, the Washington Post's investigation (Sept 21, 2026), citing internal State Department records as of end-June 2026, documents at least $410M authorized or pledged for agreements with 31 countries: $81.1M in direct payments to 13 governments, $178.6M in grants to IOM, $123.8M to UNHCR and $26.6M to other organizations. The program is run by the State Department's Office of Remigration (about 15 staff, in the PRM bureau, led by Christian Ehrhardt; Deputy Secretary Chris Landau personally negotiated some deals, including traveling to Palau). WaPo's taxonomy of deal types: 'Third Country National Arrangements' (exchanges of diplomatic notes with verbal assurances instead of binding guarantees), 'Lilypad' arrangements (Latin America; temporary staging before onward routing), and legacy STCAs. A State Department map (March 2026) shows overtures to 49 African countries, 13 agreements secured and 9 in negotiation (including Togo, Guinea-Bissau and Gabon). The Forbidden Stories consortium and the HRF/Refugees International tracker count agreements with 35 countries and 25,447 people deported to 28 countries by Aug 31, 2026. The tracker's own body text says at least $49M was paid directly to governments while its banner says $81.5M in direct funding — the discrepancy is in the source and is recorded, not resolved. A documented program feature (first reported August 2026, NYT): onward rerouting — deportees who refused to deplane in one third country (Liberia) were flown onward to a second third country (Equatorial Guinea) after being told they would be returned to the United States; refusal at the destination does not end the chain."}, "price_rows": [{"country": "Moldova", "metric": "cap-gov", "numerator": "$250,000 pledged to the government", "denominator": "100 (cap)", "result": "$2,500", "verdict": "WaPo internal-records dataset only — no second source for either side.", "source": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2026/09/21/how-trump-turned-refugee-bureau-into-410-million-deportation-operation/"}, {"country": "Sierra Leone", "metric": "cap-gov", "numerator": "$1,500,000 to the government (reported)", "denominator": "300 per year (cap)", "result": "$5,000", "verdict": "Reported, not agreement-text-verified (HRW itself hedges); chains plausibly trace to the same US grant.", "source": "https://www.hrw.org/report/2026/10/08/to-scare-people/us-expulsions-of-third-country-nationals-to-countries-in-africa"}, {"country": "St. Kitts and Nevis", "metric": "cap-gov", "numerator": "$200,400 pledged to the government", "denominator": "28 (cap)", "result": "$7,157", "verdict": "WaPo dataset only; the MOU itself leaves caps to operational procedures — conflict flagged.", "source": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2026/09/21/how-trump-turned-refugee-bureau-into-410-million-deportation-operation/"}, {"country": "Liberia (ACA, government slice)", "metric": "cap-gov", "numerator": "$5,000,000 to the government (of a $40M ACA package: $5M gov + $35M organizations)", "denominator": "500 (cap)", "result": "$10,000", "verdict": "WaPo dataset only. Blended package rate: $40M ÷ 500 = $80,000. Do not confuse with the separate up-to-1,200 arrangement.", "source": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2026/09/21/how-trump-turned-refugee-bureau-into-410-million-deportation-operation/"}, {"country": "Liberia (2026 arrangement)", "metric": "cap-gov", "numerator": "$5,000,000 approved to the government (internal State documents reviewed by the NYT: approved Dec 2025, drawn from the migration and refugee assistance fund; stated purpose: immigration-system support and services for vulnerable migrants)", "denominator": "1,200 (cap, over one year)", "result": "$4,167", "verdict": "UPGRADED Oct 20, 2026 — documented approval (NYT, Aug 21, 2026), plus a same-amount January 2026 payment in public spending data NOT explicitly labeled deal-linked, plus Liberia's denial of the 'compensation' framing (it acknowledges program support). Three legs, kept separate in the entry. Distinct from the ACA slice above — do not merge the two Liberia figures.", "source": "https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/21/us/politics/us-liberia-deportees-payment.html"}, {"country": "Dominica", "metric": "cap-gov", "numerator": "$309,600 pledged to the government", "denominator": "28 per year (cap)", "result": "$11,057", "verdict": "WaPo dataset; the cap's form is corroborated by PM Skerrit's 7-per-quarter statement.", "source": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2026/09/21/how-trump-turned-refugee-bureau-into-410-million-deportation-operation/"}, {"country": "El Salvador", "metric": "cap-gov", "numerator": "$4,760,000 INL grant to the government", "denominator": "300 men / 1 year (cap)", "result": "$15,867", "verdict": "Strongest-documented pair (court-filed text + Senate). On the grant's named 238-man cohort: $4.76M ÷ 238 = $20,000 exactly — matching the complaint's stated $20,000-per-person rate, the only contractual per-person rate in the registry.", "source": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.281302/gov.uscourts.dcd.281302.30.1.pdf"}, {"country": "Burundi", "metric": "cap-gov", "numerator": "$4,000,000 to the government (of $12M total: $4M gov + $8M organizations)", "denominator": "250 (cap)", "result": "$16,000", "verdict": "WaPo dataset only (full-package rate would be $48,000). Country identification in the extracted dataset table rests on alphabetical placement — verify against the live WaPo graphic before quoting.", "source": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2026/09/21/how-trump-turned-refugee-bureau-into-410-million-deportation-operation/"}, {"country": "Rwanda", "metric": "cap-gov", "numerator": "$7,500,000 to the government (upfront disbursement)", "denominator": "250 (cap)", "result": "$30,000", "verdict": "Two-source verified (HRW read the agreement; Senate report); WaPo dataset agrees.", "source": "https://www.hrw.org/report/2026/10/08/to-scare-people/us-expulsions-of-third-country-nationals-to-countries-in-africa"}, {"country": "Equatorial Guinea", "metric": "cap-gov", "numerator": "$7,500,000 directly to the government (MRA funds)", "denominator": "250 (cap — WaPo dataset ONLY)", "result": "$30,000 — PROVISIONAL", "verdict": "The published Note Verbale specifies NO cap and reserves case-by-case acceptance. The 250 exists only in WaPo's dataset, so this figure is dataset-derived, not an agreement term.", "source": "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"}, {"country": "Eswatini", "metric": "cap-gov", "numerator": "$5,100,000 to the government (border/migration capacity)", "denominator": "160 (cap)", "result": "$31,875", "verdict": "Verified (agreement text via HRW/TCDW/Amnesty; ministerial confirmation; Senate). WaPo dataset variant: cap 150 → $34,000; the agreement-text 160 is better sourced.", "source": "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"}, {"country": "Palau", "metric": "cap-gov", "numerator": "$7,500,000 grant to Palau public services", "denominator": "75 (CONCURRENT-PRESENCE cap — no more than 75 transferees present in Palau at any one time, per the MOU text as reported by Island Times, Jan 6, 2026; NOT a lifetime total)", "result": "$100,000 per concurrent slot", "verdict": "LABEL CORRECTED Oct 20, 2026: the 75 is a concurrent-presence cap, so this prices a SLOT at full occupancy, not a person over the deal's life; the arithmetic is unchanged. Two-source verified (Reuters/presidency + Senate). Full announced package ($7.5M + $6M pension + $2M security = $15.5M) ÷ 75 = $206,667 per concurrent slot. The registry's extreme outlier — a tiny concurrent cap against a fixed grant.", "source": "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"}, {"country": "Paraguay (STCA entry)", "metric": "cap-org", "numerator": "$3,100,000 pledged to organizations", "denominator": "300 (cap)", "result": "$10,333", "verdict": "WaPo dataset only ('program cost per intended transferee' — money to organizations, NOT to Paraguay's government).", "source": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2026/09/21/how-trump-turned-refugee-bureau-into-410-million-deportation-operation/"}, {"country": "Belize", "metric": "cap-org", "numerator": "$1,800,000 pledged to organizations", "denominator": "100 (cap)", "result": "$18,000", "verdict": "WaPo dataset only. Cap conflict: the agreement TEXT contains no number; Belize's stated position was ≤10/year.", "source": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2026/09/21/how-trump-turned-refugee-bureau-into-410-million-deportation-operation/"}, {"country": "Uganda", "metric": "cap-org", "numerator": "$9,000,000 pledged to organizations", "denominator": "500 (cap)", "result": "$18,000", "verdict": "WaPo dataset only — the Federal Register text specifies neither the amount nor a cap.", "source": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2026/09/21/how-trump-turned-refugee-bureau-into-410-million-deportation-operation/"}, {"country": "Guinea-Bissau", "metric": "cap-org", "numerator": "$20,000,000 pledged to organizations", "denominator": "1,000 (target)", "result": "$20,000", "verdict": "WaPo dataset only, for a deal all other sources describe as still being finalized; 0 people sent.", "source": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2026/09/21/how-trump-turned-refugee-bureau-into-410-million-deportation-operation/"}, {"country": "Cameroon", "metric": "cap-org", "numerator": "$30,000,000 to UNHCR for operations in Cameroon (expressly 'in support of TCNA negotiations')", "denominator": "1,000 (cap)", "result": "$30,000", "verdict": "VERIFIED-PRIMARY for the dataset entry; recipient independently corroborated (HRW/NYT). This was never money to Cameroon's government.", "source": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2026/09/21/how-trump-turned-refugee-bureau-into-410-million-deportation-operation/"}, {"country": "DR Congo", "metric": "cap-org", "numerator": "$75,000,000 to organizations [WaPo internal records, direct] — CONFLICTS with $50,000,000 to UNHCR [HRW/NYT]", "denominator": "2,000 (cap)", "result": "$37,500 / $25,000 — CONFLICTED", "verdict": "No fetched source reconciles $75M vs $50M. Neither figure is settled; the registry publishes both with the conflict flagged.", "source": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2026/09/21/how-trump-turned-refugee-bureau-into-410-million-deportation-operation/"}, {"country": "Central African Republic", "metric": "cap-org", "numerator": "$85,000,000 to organizations (IOM; ~$60M is 'community stabilization' incl. roads)", "denominator": "1,500 (cap — WaPo dataset ONLY)", "result": "$56,667", "verdict": "The IOM money is corroborated; the 1,500 cap is dataset-only, and most of the numerator is not deportee services — arithmetically valid, substantively misleading without this note.", "source": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2026/09/21/how-trump-turned-refugee-bureau-into-410-million-deportation-operation/"}, {"country": "El Salvador (Senate all-in)", "metric": "senate", "numerator": "$4,760,000 payment + $428,821 estimated flights", "denominator": "~250 people (Jan 31, 2026)", "result": "$20,755", "verdict": "Senate estimate — payment PLUS flights; a different metric from the cap rates. Do not merge.", "source": "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"}, {"country": "Rwanda (Senate all-in)", "metric": "senate", "numerator": "$7,500,000 + $601,864 estimated flights", "denominator": "7 people (Jan 31, 2026)", "result": "~$1,157,409 (report rounds to ~$1.1M)", "verdict": "Senate estimate — payment PLUS flights.", "source": "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"}, {"country": "Eswatini (Senate all-in)", "metric": "senate", "numerator": "$5,100,000 + $1,100,000 estimated flights", "denominator": "15 people (Jan 31, 2026)", "result": "$413,333", "verdict": "Senate estimate — payment PLUS flights.", "source": "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"}, {"country": "Equatorial Guinea (Senate all-in)", "metric": "senate", "numerator": "$7,500,000 + $681,670 estimated flights", "denominator": "29 people (Jan 31, 2026)", "result": "$282,126", "verdict": "Senate estimate — payment PLUS flights. This is the figure that mutated in secondary coverage into a fictitious '$100K+ per-person fee.' No such fee term exists.", "source": "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"}, {"country": "El Salvador", "metric": "actual", "numerator": "$4,760,000 INL grant to the government", "denominator": "252 men actually sent (Mar 2025 – Feb 2026 cumulative)", "result": "$18,889", "verdict": "The same grant measured against actual sendings rather than the 300-man cap; the 238-man first cohort alone yields exactly $20,000 (see cap table).", "source": "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"}, {"country": "Palau", "metric": "actual", "numerator": "$7,500,000 grant to Palau public services", "denominator": "3 people actually sent (WaPo internal records, June 2026; Island Times documents ONE arrival under the MOU — see entry)", "result": "$2,500,000", "verdict": "The registry's most extreme slot-vs-sent divergence: $100,000 per concurrent slot vs $2.5M per person actually sent. Small-n snapshot — will fall as more people are sent, if they are. COUNT TENSION (unmerged): Island Times (June 19, 2026) documents a single May 2026 arrival — the first transfer under the MOU — who departed within two weeks with IOM facilitation; on that count the per-person-sent figure would be higher still. Because the 75 is a concurrent-presence cap, people who cycle through quickly make 'per person sent' and 'per slot' diverge even faster.", "source": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2026/09/21/how-trump-turned-refugee-bureau-into-410-million-deportation-operation/"}, {"country": "Rwanda", "metric": "actual", "numerator": "$7,500,000 to the government", "denominator": "7 people actually sent (Reuters via TCDW, undated)", "result": "$1,071,429", "verdict": "Undated denominator; the Senate all-in metric for the same 7 people is ~$1,157,409 (payment + flights).", "source": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/rwanda"}, {"country": "Eswatini", "metric": "actual", "numerator": "$5,100,000 to the government", "denominator": "19 people actually sent (WaPo internal records, June 2026)", "result": "$268,421", "verdict": "June 2026 snapshot; later cumulative counts lower the figure (next row).", "source": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2026/09/21/how-trump-turned-refugee-bureau-into-410-million-deportation-operation/"}, {"country": "Eswatini", "metric": "actual", "numerator": "$5,100,000 to the government", "denominator": "32 people actually sent (cumulative, Sept 2026)", "result": "$159,375", "verdict": "Latest cumulative snapshot (15 initial + 5 + 12). Snapshot-sensitive: the Senate's Jan 31, 2026 all-in figure was $413,333 at 15 people.", "source": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/eswatini"}, {"country": "DR Congo", "metric": "actual", "numerator": "$75,000,000 to organizations [WaPo numerator]", "denominator": "15 people actually sent (Apr 17, 2026 flight)", "result": "$5,000,000", "verdict": "CONFLICTED numerator: with the HRW/NYT $50M figure the same division gives $3,333,333 (next row). Org-routed money, one flight, flights since paused (Ebola).", "source": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2026/09/21/how-trump-turned-refugee-bureau-into-410-million-deportation-operation/"}, {"country": "DR Congo", "metric": "actual", "numerator": "$50,000,000 to UNHCR [HRW/NYT numerator]", "denominator": "15 people actually sent (Apr 17, 2026 flight)", "result": "$3,333,333", "verdict": "The alternative numerator; published alongside, not instead of, the WaPo figure.", "source": "https://www.hrw.org/report/2026/10/08/to-scare-people/us-expulsions-of-third-country-nationals-to-countries-in-africa"}, {"country": "Cameroon", "metric": "actual", "numerator": "$30,000,000 to UNHCR for operations in Cameroon", "denominator": "46 people actually sent (HRF ICE Flight Monitor cumulative)", "result": "$652,174", "verdict": "Numerator is operations funding expressly tied to the negotiations, never money to Cameroon's government; denominator is the Flight Monitor cumulative count.", "source": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2026/09/21/how-trump-turned-refugee-bureau-into-410-million-deportation-operation/"}, {"country": "Central African Republic", "metric": "actual", "numerator": "$85,000,000 to IOM (~$60M community stabilization incl. roads)", "denominator": "92 people actually sent (TCDW cumulative)", "result": "$923,913", "verdict": "Most of the numerator is not deportee services — arithmetically valid, substantively misleading without this note.", "source": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/central-african-republic"}, {"country": "Equatorial Guinea", "metric": "actual", "numerator": "$7,500,000 directly to the government", "denominator": "66 people actually sent (TCDW, Sept 10, 2026)", "result": "$113,636", "verdict": "Direct-payment basis only; the Senate's all-in estimate at 29 people was $282,126. WaPo's internal-records count (50+ through August) would give ~$150,000 — snapshots differ.", "source": "https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/equatorial-guinea"}, {"country": "Moldova", "metric": "actual", "numerator": "$250,000 pledged to the government", "denominator": "26 people actually sent (WaPo internal records, June 26, 2026)", "result": "$9,615", "verdict": "Single-source numerator and denominator; Moldova has since asked to pause the arrangement (see entry).", "source": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2026/09/21/how-trump-turned-refugee-bureau-into-410-million-deportation-operation/"}, {"country": "St. Kitts and Nevis", "metric": "actual", "numerator": "$184,445 disbursed to the government (Senate payments appendix)", "denominator": "3 people actually sent", "result": "$61,482", "verdict": "Uses the Senate's disbursed figure, not the $200,400 pledged figure in the cap table.", "source": "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"}, {"country": "Sierra Leone", "metric": "actual", "numerator": "$180,000 disbursed to the government (Senate direct-payment tranche)", "denominator": "22 people actually sent at the tranche snapshot", "result": "$8,182", "verdict": "Tranche-specific: the full reported consideration is $1.5M (see cap table); this row prices only the Senate-documented direct tranche.", "source": "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"}], "refusals": [{"country": "Sierra Leone", "imposed": "Sep 13, 2017", "status": "Later REDUCED, not fully lifted (reduction date: gap)", "partner": true, "note": "Registry partner — signed removal notes Nov 2025–Jan 2026."}, {"country": "Cambodia", "imposed": "Sep 13, 2017", "status": "Restriction removed Aug 2026 (per Immigration Policy Tracking Project listing; underlying citation: gap)", "partner": false, "note": "One of the four Sept 2017 DHS sanctions (Cambodia, Eritrea, Guinea, Sierra Leone)."}, {"country": "Eritrea", "imposed": "Sep 13, 2017", "status": "In the CRS consolidated history; one of the few broader-scope sanctions (beyond B visas for officials)", "partner": false, "note": ""}, {"country": "Guinea", "imposed": "Sep 13, 2017", "status": "Lifted Aug 27, 2018", "partner": false, "note": ""}, {"country": "Burma (Myanmar)", "imposed": "Jul 9, 2018", "status": "In the CRS consolidated history", "partner": false, "note": "Imposed alongside Laos."}, {"country": "Laos", "imposed": "Jul 9, 2018", "status": "Lifted Feb 2022", "partner": false, "note": "Laos is NOT a removal-agreement partner — it appears in the record as an origin nationality (e.g., a Laotian man sent to Eswatini)."}, {"country": "Ghana", "imposed": "Jan 31, 2019", "status": "Lifted Jan 17, 2020", "partner": true, "note": "Registry partner — informal removal arrangement from Sept 2025. Sanctioned 2019 → lifted 2020 → accepting third-country nationals 2025."}, {"country": "Pakistan", "imposed": "Apr 5, 2019", "status": "In the CRS consolidated history", "partner": false, "note": ""}, {"country": "Cuba", "imposed": "2019", "status": "In the consolidated history (per State's §243(d) page summary)", "partner": false, "note": ""}, {"country": "Burundi", "imposed": "Jun 12, 2020", "status": "Later lifted (lift date: gap)", "partner": true, "note": "Registry partner — signed its removal arrangement Feb 12, 2026."}, {"country": "China", "imposed": "2020", "status": "In the consolidated history (per State's §243(d) page summary)", "partner": false, "note": ""}, {"country": "Ethiopia", "imposed": "2020", "status": "Later lifted (date: gap)", "partner": false, "note": ""}, {"country": "Guyana", "imposed": "Date: gap", "status": "Later lifted (per State's §243(d) page summary)", "partner": true, "note": "Registry entry (consideration-only note, Nov 2025)."}, {"country": "The Gambia", "imposed": "Date: gap", "status": "Later lifted (per State's §243(d) page summary)", "partner": false, "note": ""}, {"country": "South Sudan", "imposed": "Apr 5, 2025 (in substance)", "status": "Lift status: gap", "partner": true, "note": "Secretary Rubio revoked all visas held by South Sudanese passport holders for failure to accept repatriated citizens — §243(d) in substance, though the announcement never names the section (basis inferred). Five weeks later South Sudan signed notes accepting a flight of third-country nationals; the flight landed Jul 5, 2025."}], "refusal_source": "https://d27r7ebsgu0es2.cloudfront.net/reports/IF11025.html", "testimony": [{"country": "El Salvador (CECOT)", "person": "Gonzalo Y. (pseudonym, 26)", "summary": "Beaten on arrival after telling an officer of a spine problem, beaten again on the bus and at head-shaving; guards beat men 'almost every day' in hallways and the punishment cell.", "pub": "Human Rights Watch / Cristosal, 'You Have Arrived in Hell,' Nov 12, 2025", "url": "https://text.hrw.org/report/2025/11/12/you-have-arrived-in-hell/torture-and-other-abuses-against-venezuelans-in-el"}, {"country": "El Salvador (CECOT)", "person": "Andry Hernández Romero (named)", "summary": "Dragged to the windowless punishment cell 'La Isla' for bathing out of hours, beaten by masked guards and sexually assaulted; routine baton beatings in hallways.", "pub": "NPR, July 27, 2025", "url": "https://www.ksut.org/2025-07-27/hell-on-earth-venezuelans-deported-to-el-salvador-mega-prison-tell-of-brutal-abuse"}, {"country": "El Salvador (CECOT)", "person": "Roger Molina (named; one of 16 men interviewed)", "summary": "Matching accounts from 16 released men: repeated beatings, denial of medical care for diabetes/hypertension/kidney failure, metal bunks with no cushions, 24-hour lights, rare exit from cells.", "pub": "The Washington Post, July 2025 (via Post Reports summary)", "url": "https://www.listennotes.com/nl/podcasts/post-reports/they-were-deported-to-el-e-8kW79jpv5/"}, {"country": "Eswatini", "person": "Orville Etoria (named, Jamaica, 62)", "summary": "In a deposition for an African Commission complaint: no outside communication for the first 2.5 weeks, taken out of his cell only to be fed, no recreation; 'made to feel like dangerous criminals' despite having served his US sentence.", "pub": "Human Rights Watch, 'To Scare People,' Oct 8, 2026", "url": "https://www.hrw.org/report/2026/10/08/to-scare-people/us-expulsions-of-third-country-nationals-to-countries-in-africa"}, {"country": "Eswatini", "person": "Billy H. (pseudonym, Southeast Asia; in the US as a refugee from age 2)", "summary": "Told nothing about the destination; handcuffed/shackled 'about 30 hours total' on the flight; on landing, armed US and Eswatini soldiers faced each other and the men were thrown into a truck.", "pub": "Human Rights Watch, 'To Scare People,' Oct 8, 2026", "url": "https://www.hrw.org/report/2026/10/08/to-scare-people/us-expulsions-of-third-country-nationals-to-countries-in-africa"}, {"country": "Eswatini", "person": "Pheap Rom (named to HRW, Cambodia, 43)", "summary": "Asked for a fear interview for Eswatini and was refused/threatened by an ICE officer; never told where he was going; later deported onward to Cambodia on Mar 26, 2026.", "pub": "Human Rights Watch, 'To Scare People,' Oct 8, 2026", "url": "https://www.hrw.org/report/2026/10/08/to-scare-people/us-expulsions-of-third-country-nationals-to-countries-in-africa"}, {"country": "Cameroon", "person": "Tesfay T. (pseudonym, Ethiopia, 35; withholding of removal)", "summary": "Told to sign for deportation to Chad, refused; the agent said he would sign it himself. Chained at legs/hands/stomach for the whole flight; learned the destination only on landing in Cameroon.", "pub": "Human Rights Watch, 'To Scare People,' Oct 8, 2026", "url": "https://www.hrw.org/report/2026/10/08/to-scare-people/us-expulsions-of-third-country-nationals-to-countries-in-africa"}, {"country": "Cameroon", "person": "Fatima N. (pseudonym)", "summary": "Detained on arrival in a government facility in Yaoundé; 'never allowed us outside' for two months.", "pub": "Human Rights Watch, 'To Scare People,' Oct 8, 2026", "url": "https://www.hrw.org/report/2026/10/08/to-scare-people/us-expulsions-of-third-country-nationals-to-countries-in-africa"}, {"country": "Cameroon", "person": "Dawit H. (pseudonym, Ethiopia, 31; withholding to Ethiopia)", "summary": "Sick every day in Yaoundé detention, contracted malaria, hospitalized three times; his lawyer was about to file habeas when ICE moved him Texas→Louisiana on a weekend and deported him Sunday night.", "pub": "Human Rights Watch, 'To Scare People,' Oct 8, 2026", "url": "https://www.hrw.org/report/2026/10/08/to-scare-people/us-expulsions-of-third-country-nationals-to-countries-in-africa"}, {"country": "Ghana", "person": "Five plaintiffs identified only by initials, incl. D.A. (Nigeria/Gambia; withholding/CAT deferral)", "summary": "Woken at night Sep 5, 2025 in Louisiana, shackled, put on a US military cargo plane with no notice to family/counsel; some placed in straitjackets for up to 16 hours; held at Dema Camp, a remote open-air facility with armed guards.", "pub": "Complaint + Chutkan opinion, as reported by Reuters, Sep 13, 2025", "url": "https://srnnews.com/us-judge-questions-deportation-of-west-african-migrants-to-ghana/"}, {"country": "Ghana → Gambia (onward)", "person": "K.S. (initials only; bisexual man from Gambia)", "summary": "Already sent onward by Ghana to Gambia despite a US protection order; went into hiding there, where same-sex relations can draw life imprisonment.", "pub": "Reuters, Sept 2025", "url": "https://www.freedom969.com/us-news/us-judge-wont-intervene-in-trump-administrations-deportations-of-west-africans-to-ghana"}, {"country": "Costa Rica", "person": "Araz E. (pseudonym, Armenia, 35, with two children)", "summary": "At CATEM: does not speak the language, knows nothing of the country, cannot sleep, hands shaking — asked why they were brought there.", "pub": "Human Rights Watch, 'The Strategy Is to Break Us,' May 22, 2025", "url": "https://www.hrw.org/report/2025/05/22/the-strategy-is-to-break-us/the-us-expulsion-of-third-country-nationals-to-costa"}, {"country": "Costa Rica", "person": "Baseem P. (pseudonym, Afghanistan, 30)", "summary": "Chained with wrists cuffed to waist and leg shackles for the expulsion flight in front of his wife and child; felt treated 'like a criminal' and stripped of identity/country.", "pub": "Human Rights Watch, 'The Strategy Is to Break Us,' May 22, 2025", "url": "https://www.hrw.org/report/2025/05/22/the-strategy-is-to-break-us/the-us-expulsion-of-third-country-nationals-to-costa"}, {"country": "Costa Rica", "person": "Daniil N. (pseudonym)", "summary": "Summed up US + Costa Rican treatment as a deliberate strategy: designed to break them so they would give up and return home.", "pub": "Human Rights Watch, 'The Strategy Is to Break Us,' May 22, 2025", "url": "https://www.hrw.org/report/2025/05/22/the-strategy-is-to-break-us/the-us-expulsion-of-third-country-nationals-to-costa"}, {"country": "Panama", "person": "Mina (pseudonym, Iran, 27)", "summary": "Asked for asylum repeatedly in US custody and was ignored; an officer told her the president had ended asylum so they would be deported.", "pub": "Human Rights Watch, 'Nobody Cared, Nobody Listened,' Apr 24, 2025", "url": "https://www.hrw.org/report/2025/04/24/nobody-cared-nobody-listened/the-us-expulsion-of-third-country-nationals-to"}, {"country": "Panama", "person": "Yoel (pseudonym, Eritrea)", "summary": "At the Panama hotel, allowed out of rooms only to eat, no outside communication at all; held 19 days before a Red Cross call to family from the Darién camp.", "pub": "Human Rights Watch, 'Nobody Cared, Nobody Listened,' Apr 24, 2025", "url": "https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/media_2025/04/us_panama0425%20web.pdf"}, {"country": "Panama", "person": "Zara (pseudonym, country withheld)", "summary": "No family/lawyer contact and no asylum interview in US detention; flown on a military cargo plane with no explanation; confined at the Decápolis, then at San Vicente attempted suicide from feeling overwhelmed.", "pub": "Human Rights Watch, 'Nobody Cared, Nobody Listened,' Apr 24, 2025", "url": "https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/media_2025/04/us_panama0425%20web.pdf"}, {"country": "South Sudan via Djibouti", "person": "David P. (pseudonym; one of 8 men)", "summary": "Told the group was being transferred Texas→Louisiana; once airborne the pilot announced an 8-hour flight; the plane refueled in Europe and continued to a US base in Djibouti en route to South Sudan.", "pub": "Human Rights Watch, 'To Scare People,' Oct 8, 2026", "url": "https://www.hrw.org/report/2026/10/08/to-scare-people/us-expulsions-of-third-country-nationals-to-countries-in-africa"}, {"country": "South Sudan via Djibouti", "person": "Pablo N. (pseudonym, Mexico, 42)", "summary": "Despite Mexico always accepting its citizens and a 2005 removal order to Mexico, held with 7 other men for six weeks in a converted shipping container at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, then deported to South Sudan in July 2025.", "pub": "Human Rights Watch, 'To Scare People,' Oct 8, 2026", "url": "https://www.hrw.org/report/2026/10/08/to-scare-people/us-expulsions-of-third-country-nationals-to-countries-in-africa"}, {"country": "Sierra Leone → Togo → Côte d'Ivoire", "person": "Abdou Latifou (named, Togo)", "summary": "Won US protection from return to Togo, then flown to Sierra Leone, held 2 weeks in a hotel under police surveillance, put on a flight to Togo, warned by a relative he was unsafe, and fled via Benin to Côte d'Ivoire.", "pub": "Reuters, 'Trump's deportation push forces dozens of LGBT migrants onto hostile terrain,' Oct 5, 2026", "url": "https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/trumps-deportation-push-forces-dozens-lgbt-migrants-onto-hostile-terrain-2026-10-05/"}, {"country": "Liberia → Equatorial Guinea (onward rerouting)", "person": "Carlos Rodriguez Lopez, Darwin Hernandez, Emilio Destrade Correoso (named, Cuba — three of the men who resisted)", "summary": "The program's first reported refusal-and-rerouting case (Aug 20, 2026): at least five of the 20 arrivals in Monrovia refused to deplane; the three named men told the NYT that officers placed knees on their necks and that four officers restrained one man at once; they were put back on the plane, told they would be returned to the United States, and landed instead in Equatorial Guinea, where dozens of masked officers with semiautomatic guns met them and took them in handcuffs to the Bamy Hotel in Malabo. 'We thought they were trafficking us like they traffic people in other countries.' The onward group per their counsel (Alexandra Smolyar, AAJA–Atlanta): four Cuban men, a Brazilian person and a Cameroonian woman. Counts per source, unmerged: NYT 'at least five' resisted; WaPo reports six refused.", "pub": "The New York Times — Baskar, Aleaziz & Glatsky, 'After Deportees Resist Arrival in Liberia, U.S. Flies Them to Another Country,' Aug 21, 2026 (full text on file in project sources/; canonical URL supplied by Athena Oct 20, 2026)", "url": "https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/21/world/africa/us-deportees-liberia-equatorial-guinea.html"}], "imagery": [{"subject": "Decápolis Hotel, Panama City — window signs", "what": "NYT photographs/reporting from the sidewalk below show deportees confined in the glass hotel: a woman clawing at a latchless pane and holding up a paper reading 'Afghan,' and 'Help us' written in lipstick on a window by Artemis Ghasemzadeh.", "pub": "The New York Times, Feb 2025 (via syndication)", "url": "https://edition.pagesuite.com/popovers/dynamic_article_popover.aspx?guid=ef1ab972-166d-477c-ad4c-4a7fed96e479&v=sdk"}, {"subject": "Global third-country flight network", "what": "Forbidden Stories / France 24 + 25 partners: analysis of NGO data, flight-tracking, FOIA requests and court sources estimates 25,447 people deported to third countries by Aug 31, 2026, with agreements with 35 countries and $410M earmarked.", "pub": "Forbidden Stories consortium, Sep 21, 2026 (via AFP)", "url": "https://dailyguardian.eu/us-has-deported-25000-people-to-third-countries-under-secretive-deals-report-shows/"}, {"subject": "ICE Air network — aviation-data tracking", "what": "ICE Flight Monitor uses publicly available aviation data (nearly 62,000 flights tracked since 2020); its Aug 2026 report counts 325 removal flights to 40 countries that month alone.", "pub": "Human Rights First, ICE Flight Monitor, 2026", "url": "https://cdn.sanity.io/files/1e7vpawz/production/996bfbd458f3f6431c2802c1c4db409947c309cc.pdf"}, {"subject": "CATEM, Costa Rica — documentary photograph", "what": "Refugees International publishes Rachel Schmidtke's photograph of the Temporary Attention Center for Migrants (a former pencil factory) where 200 mostly Asian/African asylum seekers, including 80 children, were detained Feb–Apr 2025.", "pub": "Refugees International, May 2025", "url": "https://d3jwam0i5codb7.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/CR-2025-Report-Final.pdf"}, {"subject": "ICE's own deportation videos vs. airport CCTV", "what": "ProPublica examined 97 ICE-posted deportation videos: cuts typically occur before leg shackles appear; carrier names/tail numbers are blurred — contrasted with King County's unedited CCTV at Boeing Field.", "pub": "ProPublica (via Portside)", "url": "https://portside.org/node/33620/printable/print"}, {"subject": "US detention-expansion network — satellite imagery (US-side only)", "what": "SITU Research's 'Deportation, Inc.' combines satellite imagery, procurement records and geospatial data to map US detention expansion. Scope caveat: as published, this is the US network — NOT a satellite study of any third-country facility.", "pub": "SITU Research", "url": "https://situ.nyc/research/projects/deportation-inc-the-rise-of-the-immigration-enforcement-economy"}], "imagery_negative": "DOCUMENTED NEGATIVE: no published satellite-imagery analysis meeting the verification bar was found for any third-country site — no Planet/Maxar, Washington Post Visual Forensics, or Forensic Architecture study of CECOT, Matsapha, Camp Lemonnier, San Vicente, CATEM, or the Decápolis as a detention site. The visual record currently rests on government handout media, press photography from outside, one NGO facility photograph, and court declarations.", "litigation": [{"case": "D.V.D. v. DHS, 1:25-cv-10676 (D. Mass.); SCOTUS 24A1153 / 26-426", "doc": "Government filing Doc. 38 (Mar 29, 2025) + Doc. 34 TRO", "evidences": "The nationwide class, the four named plaintiffs, and the original requirement of written notice + a meaningful opportunity for a CAT claim before any third-country removal.", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.282404/gov.uscourts.mad.282404.38.0.pdf"}, {"case": "D.V.D. v. DHS (SCOTUS Supp. App.)", "doc": "Sworn declaration of Mellissa Harper, ICE Acting Deputy Executive Associate Director", "evidences": "Camp Lemonnier conditions from the government's own declarant: men held in a conference room in a converted Conex container 'not equipped nor suitable for detention of any length'; >100°F; illness within 72 hours; burn-pit smog; a warned rocket-attack risk.", "url": "https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24/24A1153/362298/20250604143647033_DHS%20v.%20DVD%20-%20Supp%20App.pdf"}, {"case": "D.V.D. v. DHS", "doc": "Order Doc. 225 (Nov 7, 2025) on the SEALED Hegseth (Doc. 137) and Ellis (Doc. 189-2) declarations", "evidences": "The government shielded the Djibouti arrangement on foreign-policy grounds (10 U.S.C. § 130c); the substance of any US–Djibouti understanding remains sealed — a documented gap, not a text.", "url": "https://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/massachusetts/madce/1:2025cv10676/282404/225"}, {"case": "Abrego Garcia v. Noem, 8:25-cv-02780 (D. Md.)", "doc": "Petition exhibits ECF 1-3 — Costa Rica assurance letter (Aug 21, 2025)", "evidences": "Costa Rica's written offer for ONE named person: refugee status + legal residency, no detention on arrival, no refoulement to El Salvador. A person-specific letter — NOT the US–Costa Rica agreement text.", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mdd.589189/gov.uscourts.mdd.589189.179.1_1.pdf"}, {"case": "Abrego Garcia v. Noem", "doc": "Doc. 27 + Ex. A/B/C (ICE emails)", "evidences": "The shifting designations: ICE notice Aug 22, 2025 ('may' remove to Uganda), then a Sep 5, 2025 email switching to Eswatini after he expressed fear of Uganda — with no information on any assurances from Eswatini.", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mdd.589189/gov.uscourts.mdd.589189.27.0.pdf"}, {"case": "Abrego Garcia v. Noem", "doc": "Plaintiffs' Exhibit K, Doc. 71-11 — Lyons July 9, 2025 memo", "evidences": "Exhibit copy of the Lyons 'Third Country Removals' memo: rescinds D.V.D.-injunction guidance, reinstates the Noem Mar 30, 2025 guidance, sets the 24-hour (6-hour exigent) notice procedure.", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mdd.589189/gov.uscourts.mdd.589189.71.11.pdf"}, {"case": "Abrego Garcia v. Noem", "doc": "Doc. 32-4 — Guardian article filed as exhibit (Sep 3, 2025)", "evidences": "How the Eswatini five entered this docket: lawyers' statements (served sentences; one short guarded video call a week; local lawyer blocked from Matsapha) and Jamaica's foreign minister contradicting DHS's 'home countries refused' claim for Orville Etoria.", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mdd.589189/gov.uscourts.mdd.589189.32.4.pdf"}, {"case": "Abrego Garcia v. Noem", "doc": "Notice of Supplemental Evidence, Doc. 108 + Ex. A (Nov 21, 2025) — WaPo article", "evidences": "Security Minister Mario Zamora Cordero: Costa Rica told the US Embassy in August it would accept Abrego Garcia with legal residency and demanded no further negotiations — contradicting DOJ's Nov 7 filing that Liberia was the only willing state.", "url": "https://archive.org/download/gov.uscourts.mdd.589189/gov.uscourts.mdd.589189.108.0.pdf"}, {"case": "D.A. v. Noem (D.D.C., Chutkan J.), filed Sep 12, 2025", "doc": "Complaint + motion to compel production of the US–Ghana MOU", "evidences": "Plaintiffs moved to compel the Ghana MOU; Judge Chutkan said at the Sep 12 hearing that if a written agreement exists the government must produce it. As of the reporting fetched, DHS had NOT produced it. The court's order called the removals an apparent 'end run' but found its hands tied after the Supreme Court's D.V.D. stay.", "url": "https://jurnal.jumanji.workers.dev/host-https-www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/chutkna-ghana-deportees-hands-tied-opinion.pdf"}, {"case": "J.G.G. v. Trump, 1:25-cv-00766 (D.D.C.)", "doc": "Order Doc. 147 + Opinion Doc. 148 (Jun 4, 2025); Memorandum Opinion Doc. 247 (Feb 12, 2026)", "evidences": "Defines the CECOT Class (all noncitizens removed Mar 15–16, 2025 to CECOT 'pursuant solely to' the AEA proclamation); Feb 2026 order requires facilitating returns for class members seeking habeas. No new agreement text is attached — the El Salvador text in this litigation family remains the 1:25-cv-01774-JEB exhibit.", "url": "https://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/district-of-columbia/dcdce/1:2025cv00766/278436/247"}], "litigation_negative": "NO NEW AGREEMENT TEXT was discovered in litigation exhibits: the Ghana MOU was not attached or produced in any filing fetched; the only Costa Rica document attached is a person-specific assurance letter; Eswatini/Uganda/Liberia appear only through ICE designation notices and emails; any Djibouti understanding is sealed.", "leverage_sources": [{"label": "World Bank API — DAC aid indicator DC.DAC.USAL.CD", "url": "https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/DC.DAC.USAL.CD"}, {"label": "World Bank — remittances % of GDP (BX.TRF.PWKR.DT.GD.ZS)", "url": "https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.TRF.PWKR.DT.GD.ZS"}, {"label": "UN Comtrade (preview API)", "url": "https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS"}, {"label": "CRS IF11025 — recalcitrant countries & visa sanctions", "url": "https://d27r7ebsgu0es2.cloudfront.net/reports/IF11025.html"}]}