Trump Administration Sends Over 25,000 Immigrants to Third Countries, Raising Human Rights Concerns
The Trump administration has sent more than 25,000 immigrants to third countries, with the vast majority—around 20,000—deported to Mexico. The remaining migrants were dispersed to 27 other nations across Latin America, Africa, and the Pacific, and agreements have been finalized with seven additional countries. According to State Department documents, a majority of the 35 countries that have signed deals with the US have specified that they will not accept migrants with violent criminal records. While the fine print of most agreements remains opaque, the administration is paying millions of dollars to these countries to accept foreign migrants, either temporarily or long term. The remaining funds were designated for aid organizations, including more than $178 million for the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) and $123 million for UNHCR.nnA spokesperson for UNHCR, which receives these funds, said the agency supports “states in fulfilling their primary responsibility to protect refugees and asylum seekers on their territory by helping ensure that, irrespective of the circumstances of their arrival, they have access to asylum procedures and are not returned to places where they face a risk of harm.” The policy has raised concerns among immigration advocates, especially as California has taken significant strides to protect immigrants. The state has passed a broad range of laws to expand and uphold civil and labor rights, equalize access to higher education, and define the role local law enforcement may play in federal immigration enforcement. Notably, California’s Racial and Identity Profiling Act (AB 953), effective January 1, 2016, includes requirements regarding significant law enforcement issues.nnPeople interviewed by the Guardian for this project include a nurse originally from Sierra Leone who was her parents’ main carer in the US, an anti-government protester who fled the Iranian regime, and a gay man who fled Ghana after he was outed and then hunted by members of his family. These personal stories underscore the human impact of the policy. Meanwhile, a new report from the ACLU and AFL-CIO, titled Citizenship and the Affordability Agenda: A Path to Better Jobs, Higher Wages, and Prosperity for All, details how the mass deportation agenda is exacerbating the affordability crisis by disrupting critical industries, eliminating jobs, weakening workplace protections, and driving up costs for
Shimanta Das 
