The United States has struck new bilateral deportation agreements with Uganda and Honduras as part of President Donald Trump’s aggressive crackdown on illegal immigration.
Under the arrangement, Uganda will take in an unspecified number of African and Asian migrants who had previously sought asylum at the US-Mexico border, provided they do not have criminal records. Honduras, meanwhile, has committed to receiving several hundred deported migrants from Spanish-speaking countries over two years, with the possibility of expanding that number.
Human rights campaigners have condemned the move, warning that migrants risk being relocated to countries where they could face persecution or unsafe conditions.
“This policy raises serious concerns under international law, as migrants could be sent to nations where they are vulnerable to abuse, or even deported again to places they originally fled,” rights groups have argued.
The deals are part of a wider Trump administration strategy to secure deportation agreements across multiple continents including with countries criticized for poor human rights records. So far, at least a dozen nations have signed similar arrangements.
Just last week, the US State Department confirmed a “safe third country” agreement with Paraguay to “share the burden of managing illegal immigration.” Rwanda has also agreed to accept up to 250 migrants from the US, though the deal gives Kigali the power to review each individual case. Critics say such transfers pose grave risks, given Rwanda’s contested human rights record.
Earlier this year, Panama and Costa Rica also signed accords to take in hundreds of African and Asian migrants. Other countries reportedly approached by Washington include Ecuador and Spain.
Since the start of his second term, Trump has doubled down on his campaign pledge to remove undocumented migrants. In June, the US Supreme Court gave his administration the green light to deport migrants to countries other than their homeland without requiring a review of the risks they may face.
The ruling split the bench, with Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissenting and denouncing it as “a gross abuse.”
