The administration of Donald Trump spent more than $40 million deporting roughly 300 migrants to countries with which they had no connection.
This is according to a statement contained in a report released Friday by Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The findings detail the financial and policy implications of a controversial deportation strategy that relocates non-citizens to third countries when their home nations refuse repatriation.
What the report said
According to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Democrats, the deportations cost an average of about $133,333 per person.
In Rwanda, which received seven deportees, the total cost reached approximately $1.1 million per person.
The report said the policy involved sending migrants to remote countries to ensure removals when repatriation to their home nations proved difficult.
- Destinations such as Palau and Eswatini were reportedly selected to signal that migrants could be relocated to distant locations far from their home countries.
- The bulk of the funds, about $32 million, went to five countries: Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, El Salvador, Palau and Eswatini. According to the report, payments were made directly to foreign governments without third-party oversight, and the State Department does not use external auditors to track how the funds are spent.
- Equatorial Guinea alone received $7.5 million, more than the total US foreign assistance provided to the country over the previous eight years combined.
Backstory
The policy of deporting migrants to countries other than their own gained traction after Donald Trump returned to office in 2025 and intensified immigration enforcement efforts.
- The administration argued that some migrants could not be returned to their home countries because those governments refused repatriation, lacked diplomatic cooperation, or posed security and legal barriers. Under U.S. immigration law, removal to a third country is permitted when returning a person to their country of origin is deemed impracticable or unsafe.
- In early 2025, the Department of Homeland Security began reviewing cases of migrants who could not be deported home, exploring agreements with other nations willing to receive them.
- The policy accelerated following a June 2025 Supreme Court decision allowing expedited deportations to third countries with limited notice, strengthening the administration’s legal footing.
More insights
The report detailed cases in which migrants were sent thousands of miles away from their home countries.
- One Mexican national was flown more than 8,000 miles to South Sudan at an estimated cost of $91,000 per person, including temporary housing at a US military base in Djibouti. He was returned to Mexico weeks later.
- A Jamaican national was deported to Eswatini at an estimated cost exceeding $181,000 despite having an existing deportation order to Jamaica. He was later flown back to his home country, with Jamaican officials stating they had not refused his return.
- A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment regarding the report.
What you should know
Last month, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced plans to deport at least 79 Nigerians listed on its “worst-of-the-worst” criminal register as part of renewed enforcement efforts targeting foreign nationals with serious criminal convictions.
- The agency said those identified were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and prioritised for removal under stricter deportation policies.
- In 2025, the U.S. Department of State revoked over 100,000 foreign visas, more than double the number of revocations in 2024. This sharp increase reflects stricter scrutiny of entry documents and adherence to immigration rules.
