Tracking third-country deportations from the United States

Third-country deportations, also known as third-country removals, refer to cases in which a government deports a non-citizen to a country that is not their nation of origin. These deportations have rapidly escalated under the second Trump Administration.

The Human Rights Center has dedicated an open source investigation team and a legal support team to gather, organize, and present data on third‑country deportations happening under this administration, including the agreements that are facilitating these transfers. Our first partners were Human Rights First and Refugees International; initial tasks included populating their Third Country Deportation Watch Tracker, a tool designed for use by lawyers, journalists, and citizen researchers that provides a detailed overview about the underlying agreements and the experiences of those who are deported. Our partners have since expanded to include investigative journalists, as well as lawyers representing refugees and migrants who have been removed from the U.S..

We are part of the Forbidden Stories investigation “The Deportation Project – Inside the Trump administration’s secret deals to expel people worldwide.” For six months, we worked alongside 72 journalists across 25 newsrooms in 15 countries to investigate the secret deals used to expel migrants from the U.S. As part of this collaboration we are releasing a report and digital dashboard that reveals what is in the third country removal agreements, as well as a reading room where all public agreements are available in their original format and as searchable text.

We will continue to research these intergovernmental agreements; the transfer of individuals across borders; and the role of civil society groups inside and outside destination countries. To identify gaps in human rights guarantees, our students and staff have been assessing dozens of asylum systems in countries that have accepted or will accept third country nationals. We are also  collaborating with lawyers, journalists and human rights advocates to expose what is happening and demand accountability.