Launching Banished by Bargain: Third Country Deportation Watch

Human Rights First and Refugees International launched Banished by Bargain: Third Country Deportation Watch, a new website that tracks and exposes the human toll of the Trump administration’s forced third country transfer agreements. These agreements have resulted in the forcible transfer of thousands of people—including families recognized as refugees or people granted protection from return to their country of origin—to countries where they have no ties and could be subject to inhumane detention or deportation to the countries they fled.  

“Banished by Bargain: Third Country Deportation Watch sheds light on the human suffering behind these unlawful and secretive transfers,” said Uzra Zeya, Chief Executive Officer of Human Rights First. “Beyond their cruelty, these agreements reflect a transactional foreign policy driven by xenophobia—punishing non-citizens for seeking protections enshrined in law, while undermining human rights and setting dangerous new norms for migration management globally. We are working to hold the U.S. government accountable for policies that flout international law and endanger lives.”

“Our new tracker exposes how the Trump administration is methodically shredding the longstanding American principle of protecting vulnerable people from harm. These third-country transfer agreements frequently underpin harmful practices and human rights violations in other countries” said Jeremy Konyndyk, President of Refugees International. “These deals will put lives at risk. This Kafka-esque system of agreements risks creating a modern gulag of abusive detention. We are committed to pulling back the curtain on these arrangements and holding both the U.S. and recipient governments accountable on the global stage.”

Since early 2025, the Trump administration has expanded the use of forced third country transfers—sending asylum seekers, people granted withholding of removal under the Refugee Convention or the Convention Against Torture, and those with family ties in the United States to countries where they are often stranded, separated, detained, or face onward deportation, in some cases to the country they fled persecution. The practice—which began with the transfer of Asian and African asylum seekers to Panama and Costa Rica and Venezuelans to El Salvador’s CECOT prison—now spans multiple continents through a web of secretive diplomatic agreements with different qualities and quid pro quos. As part of its coercive deportation agenda, the Trump administration is also refusing to consider the asylum applications of thousands of additional individuals and instead threatening them with future forced transfer to third countries.  

The new website offers an invaluable comprehensive picture of the diplomatic deals behind the agreements and their various forms. It details where people are being sent and how they are treated when transferred. It also provides resources for journalists, policymakers, advocates, and attorneys working to understand and challenge what is happening. 

Human Rights First and Refugees International have long worked to expose and oppose abusive migration policies. Human Rights First is actively litigating to challenge unlawful third country transfers and so-called “asylum cooperative agreements,” as well as tracking deportation flights through its ICE Flight Monitor. Refugees International brings decades of experience documenting the harms of refoulement (return to persecution) and its recent, successful efforts to build public and political opposition to the 2019 U.S.–Guatemala Asylum Cooperative Agreement.

Human Rights First and Refugees International will use the tracker to drive transparency, advocacy, and accountability, and to work towards stopping these cruel policies. 

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For press inquiries, contact press@humanrightsfirst and edupain@refugeesinternational.org.