21-09-2026
An investigation by Forbidden Stories, with assistance from France 24 and Radio France Internationale, has revealed the scale and limited transparency of US deportation agreements with third countries. According to data compiled with an international journalism consortium, the United States had deported 25,447 people to third countries by August 31, 2026, under arrangements involving 35 nations. The agreements concern migrants who cannot legally be returned to their countries of origin and were largely negotiated after Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025.
The investigation found that approximately 20,000 deportees were sent to Mexico, while others were dispersed among 27 countries in Latin America, Africa and the Pacific. Seven additional agreements had reportedly been finalized. The arrangements differ in the nationalities countries will accept and whether people with criminal convictions are eligible. Nearly all African countries—49 of 54—were approached, while an earlier AFP investigation found that Washington used visa restrictions and bans to pressure African governments into accepting deportees.
The US has earmarked approximately $410 million for the program. Of that sum, $81 million was designated for participating governments, while more than $178 million was intended for the International Organization for Migration and $123 million for the UN Refugee Agency. A State Department office called the Office of Remigration, established in May 2025 and led by diplomat Christian Jove Ehrhardt, handled many negotiations and payments.
Cameroon signed an agreement in December and received its first deportation flight in January. Palau agreed to accept up to 75 people in exchange for $7.5 million but had received only three. Eswatini received 32 people under a deal worth more than $5 million and accepted some deportees with criminal records. Lawyers criticized the arrangements for leaving people detained in unfamiliar countries with few legal protections. UN agencies defended their involvement, saying their funding and participation were intended to improve migrants’ conditions and strengthen asylum systems.
Entities: United States deportation agreements, Donald Trump, Forbidden Stories, France 24, Radio France Internationale (RFI) • Tone: analytical • Sentiment: negative • Intent: inform
21-09-2026
FRANCE 24 and RFI, working with the Forbidden Stories consortium, investigated secret agreements between the administration of US President Donald Trump and 35 countries that accepted migrants deported from the United States. The investigation involved 72 journalists from 26 media outlets in 15 countries, more than 100 interviews and testimonies from 33 deported migrants.
Since January 2025, more than 25,400 foreigners have reportedly been deported to countries they had often never visited. Many had legal protections preventing their return to their countries of origin because they faced possible persecution there. The Trump administration used agreements with so-called “third countries” to bypass those protections, although the terms of the deals and what the receiving countries obtained in return remain largely secret.
Twelve of the agreements were made with African countries, including Ghana, Cameroon and Eswatini. The investigation documents the experiences of people who were sent to unfamiliar countries and left in precarious situations. Some had lived in the US for decades, working, paying taxes and raising families. After deportation, they became effectively stateless and faced possible detention, mistreatment or removal to the countries from which they had originally fled.
The article also describes the risks faced by journalists investigating US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Salvadoran reporter Mario Guevara was detained in 2025 while covering an anti-ICE protest in Atlanta and was later deported to El Salvador. The wider “Deportation Project” examines the human consequences of the policy through reports on Cameroon, Ghana and Eswatini, as well as an interactive map documenting the deportations and the countries involved. Overall, the investigation presents the policy as opaque and damaging, while highlighting the uncertain legal and humanitarian status of those deported.
Entities: Donald Trump, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Forbidden Stories, FRANCE 24, RFI • Tone: analytical • Sentiment: negative • Intent: inform
21-09-2026
The supplied material is a France 24 video-page entry for an episode titled “Forbidden Stories on Trump deportation system: FRANCE 24’s ‘Ice, Trump and Africa’.” It was issued and modified on September 21, 2026. The page identifies Sofia Alvarez Jurado, an investigative journalist and member of the Deportation project, as the featured speaker. According to the description, she discusses an international investigation into Donald Trump’s migrant policy. The video was produced by Mark Owen and has a listed duration of 09:59.
The title and description connect the report to Trump’s deportation system, the US immigration agency or policy commonly associated with “ICE,” and Africa. However, the supplied page does not include a transcript, detailed findings, quotations, or specific cases from the investigation. As a result, the available material establishes the subject and participants but does not provide enough information to summarize the investigation’s evidence, conclusions, or broader implications.
The page also contains standard France 24 interface elements, technical notices concerning YouTube playback and advertising tracking, keyword labels for “Forbidden Stories” and “Donald Trump,” a list of unrelated recommended stories, and a notice stating that the requested content may no longer exist or be available. Those elements have been excluded from the cleaned version except for the availability notice, which is relevant to the source’s status. Overall, the material is an informational video introduction concerning investigative reporting on Trump’s migrant and deportation policies, rather than a full article or complete report.
Entities: France 24, Forbidden Stories, Donald Trump, Sofia Alvarez Jurado, Mark Owen • Tone: analytical • Sentiment: neutral • Intent: inform
21-09-2026
France 24’s Reporters+ investigation, “ICE, Trump and Africa: Secret deals, broken lives,” examines how the Trump administration’s immigration policy has used African countries as destinations for deportations carried out by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The investigation focuses on the removal of migrants to so-called “third countries”—including Ghana, Eswatini and Cameroon—rather than to their countries of origin.
Many of those deported had lived in the United States for decades. They had worked, paid taxes and established families, but were reportedly arrested and detained without warning before being sent to countries they had never known and where they often had no relatives, income, legal status or support network. The documentary follows people living in legal and social limbo, including individuals who risk detention or deportation to the countries they originally fled. Some fear for their safety if returned.
The report is part of The Deportation Project, a six-month investigation conducted by a consortium of 26 media outlets coordinated by Forbidden Stories, with RFI and France 24 participating. Journalists investigated confidential agreements between the US administration and African governments that allow undocumented migrants detained by ICE to be transferred to countries unrelated to their citizenship or personal history.
Beyond the individual stories, the film examines the political system supporting these removals. It alleges that Washington has used political pressure, financial arrangements, trade negotiations and tariff incentives to persuade African states to accept deportees. The investigation portrays these agreements as a largely opaque form of bargaining in which vulnerable migrants become instruments of US foreign policy.
Through interviews and reporting from Ghana, Cameroon and Eswatini, the documentary highlights the uncertainty faced by deported people and the pressure placed on African governments. Its central argument is that the United States is relocating its deportation system abroad while leaving those removed without meaningful protection, documentation or stability.
Entities: Karina Chabour, Donald Trump, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), France 24, RFI • Tone: analytical • Sentiment: negative • Intent: inform
21-09-2026
A joint investigation by Forbidden Stories, FRANCE 24 and 25 other international media outlets estimates that the Trump administration has deported more than 25,000 people to countries other than their countries of origin since January 2025. The investigation used NGO data, flight-tracking information, freedom-of-information requests, court and legal sources, and reporting from journalists in multiple countries.
About 20,000 people were sent to Mexico by land, even though many were not Mexican nationals and there is no formal third-country deportation agreement between the United States and Mexico. At least 5,447 additional people from 89 nationalities were flown to countries around the world. By August 31, 2026, 28 countries across six continents had received deportees, while agreements had been reached with seven additional countries. Guatemala received nearly 3,000 people, while Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama and El Salvador each received more than 250.
The investigation identifies agreements with 13 African countries, 12 of which had already received deportees, totaling approximately 450 people. Ghana received more than 100, while several other countries received dozens. Human Rights First argues that the administration has become increasingly secretive about the transfers and is prioritizing agreements over the human-rights records of partner governments.
The article profiles Rabbiatu Kuyateh, a Sierra Leonean nurse who lived in the United States for more than 30 years before being detained and sent to Ghana, a country with which she had no meaningful connection. It also describes Malick, a Senegalese man who had protection from removal to his home country because of threats to his safety but was deported to a third country. Although the administration says it is targeting serious criminals, interviews with 33 deportees and NGO reports suggest that many people had no criminal records. The article presents third-country removals as a central, opaque and expanding element of the administration's immigration policy.
Entities: Donald Trump, Rabbiatu Kuyateh, Savi Arvey, Forbidden Stories, FRANCE 24 • Tone: analytical • Sentiment: negative • Intent: inform
21-09-2026
FRANCE 24 and Forbidden Stories investigate the fate of African migrants deported from the United States to Cameroon under opaque “third-country” agreements associated with Donald Trump’s administration. At least 44 people from across Africa have reportedly been sent to Cameroon, despite having no connection to the country. They are being held in a temporary migrant shelter in Yaoundé, where they live in sparse dormitories and face uncertain legal and personal futures.
The article profiles Barbara, an Ethiopian woman from Tigray who fled persecution after the region’s devastating war. After travelling through Brazil and reaching the United States, she was detained in Louisiana. A US judge granted her “withholding of removal,” a protection preventing deportation to Ethiopia because she faced a significant risk of persecution. Nevertheless, she was later placed on a plane and deported to Cameroon, a country she had never known.
Another deportee, Soraya from Ghana, says she fled after her family discovered her sexual orientation and threatened her life. She too had received protection in the United States before being deported without warning. Lawyers say that US law allows people with withholding of removal to be sent to countries considered “safe,” creating a legal loophole that the Trump administration has used to expand deportations.
More than 35 agreements with countries in Africa and Latin America have reportedly enabled the deportation of over 25,000 people. Lawyers and rights advocates criticize the arrangements for their secrecy, limited access to legal assistance and alleged detention-like conditions. In Cameroon, the publicly available agreement consists of diplomatic notes promising treatment consistent with international law, but its full terms remain unclear. Reports suggest Washington applied financial pressure by threatening to suspend approximately $30 million in refugee-related funding, although the UN refugee agency denies that the money was intended to resettle deportees.
Entities: Donald Trump, Barbara, Soraya, Joseph Awah Fru, Beatrice Njeri • Tone: analytical • Sentiment: negative • Intent: analyze
21-09-2026
The Guardian’s investigation examines the Trump administration’s use of “third-country national” deportation arrangements, under which migrants are sent to countries with which they have no personal or legal connection. The investigation centers on Nika, an Iranian woman who fled political repression, received protection from removal by a US immigration judge, and was briefly released from detention. Despite that protection, she was rearrested during what she believed was a routine check-in and deported roughly 7,000 miles away to the Central African Republic (CAR). She says officials did not tell her the destination in advance and that detainees were shackled, taunted, and, in some cases, tightly restrained during the flight.
Nika now lives in fear in Bangui, largely confined to her room because the US State Department warns Americans against traveling to CAR. She also fears that she may ultimately be sent back to Iran, where she could face persecution or death.
According to figures cited by the article, more than 25,000 people have been deported by the Trump administration to countries other than their own. Around 20,000 were sent to Mexico, while more than 5,000 were flown to countries in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and central Asia. The Guardian and 23 partner organizations tracked more than 100 flights to 28 countries and reviewed government agreements, though the total is likely higher.
Human rights lawyers characterize the policy as a deliberate “show of force” intended to deter asylum seekers. The administration says it is removing people who have no right to remain, but documents indicate that many destination countries will not accept people with violent criminal records. A federal appeals court ruled that the removals were unlawful because migrants were not given adequate notice or an opportunity to challenge their deportations. The administration is expected to appeal and continue the policy.
Entities: Nika, an Iranian asylum seeker, Sahar Jalili, Donald Trump administration, Stephen Miller, US Department of Homeland Security • Tone: analytical • Sentiment: negative • Intent: analyze
21-09-2026
A Washington Post investigation reports that the Trump administration has transformed a small State Department office traditionally associated with refugee affairs into a major operation for arranging the deportation of migrants to countries where they have no prior connection. The Office of Remigration, a division of roughly 15 employees within the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, is led by career diplomat Christian Ehrhardt and operates under the influence of White House adviser Stephen Miller.
Internal government records reviewed by The Post indicate that the administration had authorized or pledged at least $410 million by the end of June to support deportation agreements with 31 countries, primarily in Africa and Latin America. The commitments include $81 million in direct payments to 13 foreign governments, along with $179 million for the International Organization for Migration and $124 million for the U.N. Refugee Agency. Although the international organizations are not formally parties to the deportation deals, the funds were reportedly negotiated as incentives for countries to accept deportees.
The agreements vary considerably. Some countries restrict deportees by nationality or criminal history, while others accept people from particular regions or violent offenders. According to current and former officials, the arrangements were negotiated rapidly and through contracts designed to avoid legal requirements and human-rights safeguards that normally apply to foreign assistance. This has enabled payments to authoritarian governments despite documented allegations of torture, unlawful killings and indefinite detention.
The article presents the operation as a sharp reversal of the bureau’s traditional refugee-resettlement mission. It also notes that the term “remigration” has associations with European white-nationalist movements advocating the expulsion of immigrants and racial minorities. Migrants sent under the deals have reported beatings, inadequate food and restrictions on access to lawyers and family members.
Entities: Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, Christian Ehrhardt, David Nakamura and Adam Taylor, Office of Remigration • Tone: analytical • Sentiment: negative • Intent: analyze
21-09-2026
The supplied excerpt introduces Arsalan Saleh Fard, an Iranian-born Christian who was sent by the United States to Panama but appears to have been left without a clear plan for what would happen next. Two years earlier, Saleh Fard had never heard of Panama City and would not have been able to locate it on a map. By the time of the reported events, he was living in the city under highly uncertain circumstances, sometimes sleeping on a mattress on the floor and describing a life “in limbo.”
The article’s headline frames Saleh Fard’s situation as an example of a broader failure in U.S. policy or implementation: the United States transferred him to Panama without adequately arranging his subsequent support, status or future. The opening scene emphasizes his unfamiliarity with the city and the stark contrast between an international government decision and the precarious reality faced by the individual affected by it.
Because the provided content ends after the introductory paragraph, it does not include the article’s fuller account of why Saleh Fard was sent to Panama, what legal or humanitarian protections he received, how Panamanian authorities responded, or what steps the U.S. government took afterward. It also does not provide statements from officials, advocates or Saleh Fard beyond the narrative description. Therefore, the available excerpt supports a summary focused on displacement, uncertainty and the apparent absence of post-transfer planning, but not a complete account of the article’s reporting or conclusions.
Entities: Arsalan Saleh Fard, Panama City, Panama, Iran, United States • Tone: analytical • Sentiment: negative • Intent: inform
