The Trump administration has partnered with foreign governments to accept deportees who cannot be returned to their countries of origin, creating a system where immigrants with court-ordered protections are still being sent home. An investigation by The Times found over 110 individuals who had legal safeguards were handed over to foreign governments and then passed to home countries where they faced torture, sexual abuse, or persecution. These foreign partners often serve merely as intermediaries, with officers roughing up immigrants or forcing them onto airplanes.
Some were threatened with imprisonment until they "volunteered" to return. Human rights groups call this "immigration colonialism," noting it undermines asylum on a global scale and constitutes refoulement—the illegal return of people to dangerous countries. The State Department has declined to answer whether its program amounts to refoulement by proxy, while Alma David of the National Immigration Litigation Alliance warned that the U.S. is creating a "bank-shot" way to evade international law.
At least some American partners see their role as helping deport people to their countries of origin rather than resettling them. The figure of 110 comes from reviewing court documents and surveys, matching data from Human Rights First. Many more asylum seekers were deported without hearing and also ended up back home, and the number is sure to grow.
Source: New York Times Top Stories · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing