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The United States has committed about $410 million to facilitate the removal of more than 25,000 migrants to countries with which they have no previous ties, according to a new investigation, while a federal appeals court has ruled the policy unlawful.

The Trump administration has deported more than 25,000 people from the United States to at least 28 third countries since 2025, according to data compiled by an international consortium of journalists and migration researchers. 

The majority of those deported — about 20,000 people — were sent to Mexico, while others were transferred to countries across Africa, Latin America and the Pacific despite having no citizenship or established connection to those destinations. 

The investigation found that the US government has authorised or pledged at least $410 million to support agreements involving third-country removals. About $81 million of that amount was committed as direct payments to foreign governments, while additional funds were allocated to organisations, including United Nations agencies, involved in supporting the arrangements. 

The policy allows the US to send migrants to countries other than their countries of origin, particularly in cases where direct removal to their home countries is difficult or where the US government says the receiving country has agreed to accept them.

However, the policy has faced legal challenges over whether migrants are given adequate notice and an opportunity to raise concerns about potential persecution, torture or other dangers in the third country.

On September 18, a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled that the administration’s third-country deportation policy was unlawful because it failed to provide migrants with sufficient due process before their removal. 

The ruling upheld the core finding of a lower federal court, which had previously ordered the government to provide migrants with a meaningful opportunity to challenge removal to a third country on safety grounds. 

Despite the ruling, the legal dispute is expected to continue as the administration considers further appeals.

The development has drawn significant international attention because some of the migrants sent to third countries had no previous connection to the countries receiving them. Human rights organisations and immigration lawyers have also raised concerns about the legal status and safety of some deportees after their arrival.

The figures highlight the growing scale of the US government’s third-country removal programme, as well as the legal and diplomatic questions surrounding agreements under which other countries accept migrants who are not their nationals.

The case is likely to remain subject to further legal proceedings as US courts consider the limits of the government’s authority to remove migrants to countries other than their own.