President Trump's 'Third Country Deportations,' Explained

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4.3 • 4.5K Ratings

🗓️ 4 March 2026

⏱️ 34 minutes

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Summary

Over the past year, the United States government has deported hundreds of people using a rare method of removal: putting them on a plane and sending them to a country to which they have no connection. It’s called a “third country deportation.”

When the deported immigrants arrive, the “third” country detains them. Or it ships them right back out to their country of origin. And the U.S. foots the bill.

Why is the Trump administration relying on this policy as part of its immigration crackdown? And what could a recent ruling by a federal judge mean for the future of these kinds of deportations?

A statement from DHS…

The Supreme Court previously issued two separate emergency stays against Judge Brian Murphy in this case, and we are confident we will be vindicated again. The Biden Administration allowed millions of illegal aliens to flood our country, and the Trump Administration has the constitutional authority to remove these criminal illegal aliens and clean up this national security nightmare. If these activists judges had their way, aliens who are so uniquely barbaric that their own countries won’t take them back, including convicted murderers, child rapists and drug traffickers, would walk free on American streets. DHS must be allowed to execute its lawful authority and remove illegal aliens to a country willing to accept them.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for NPR and the following message come from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation,
0:05.4	investing in creative thinkers and problem solvers who help people, communities, and the planet flourish.
0:11.1	More information is available at Hewlett.org. Deported to South Sudan, eight people, deported to Eswatini, 15 people, deported to Equatorial Guinea,
0:29.6	29 people, deported to Ghana, at least 60 people. Over the past year, the U.S. government has
0:36.4	deported hundreds of people using a rare
0:38.4	method of removal, putting them on a plane and sending them to another country, not the one they
0:43.8	immigrated from. Often it's a country they have no ties to. It's called a third country deportation.
0:50.5	Where the deportees arrive, the third country detains them, or it ships them right back out to their country of origin, places where some people say they'll face persecution or death.
1:00.5	Why has the Trump administration relied on this policy as part of its immigration crackdown?
1:05.2	And what could a recent ruling by a federal judge mean for the future of these kinds of deportations?
1:10.6	I'm Jen White. You're listening to the 1A podcast. We'll answer these questions and more after a short break. Stay with us.
1:21.1	Support for NPR and the following message come from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
1:26.7	Investing in creative thinkers and
1:28.4	problem solvers who help people, communities, and the planet flourish. More information is available
1:33.6	at Hewlett.org. Welcome back and let's get into the conversation and meet our guests. Joining us
1:40.3	from Atlanta is Meredith Youen. She's litigation director at Asian Americans Advancing Justice Atlanta,
1:46.5	and she's advised attorneys with clients in immigration detention. Meredith, welcome to the program.
1:51.8	Hi, Jen. Thanks for having me on. And joining us from Brooklyn, New York is Sarah Stillman. She's a staff writer at the New Yorker magazine and director of the investigative reporting lab at Yale
2:01.1	University. Sarah, welcome to you as well. Hi, thanks for having me here. Sarah, given the reporting
2:06.2	on how the administration carried out these deportations, including your reporting, it sounds like
2:11.2	there were two types of third country deportations. There were people who had convictions for
2:16.2	violent crimes, and it served their sentences.
	...

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