Trump’s deportation program sends Russian citizens to these four countries — not Russia — under secret agreements
Since January 2025, Donald Trump’s administration has secretly deported more than 25,000 migrants from the U.S. to countries where they had no ties, according to an investigation by Forbidden Stories, a consortium of journalists.
Refugees International and Human Rights First say about 20,000 people were bused to Mexico. More than 5,000 others were flown to countries in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Central Asia.
Deportees were often sent from these third countries to their home countries, where their lives or freedom could be at risk.
The reporters say the U.S. has struck undisclosed agreements with at least 35 countries to accept deported migrants. Neither Russia nor Ukraine is among them. Twenty-eight of those countries are known to have already taken in people under the agreements, and the other seven have committed to doing so.
Forbidden Stories found that Russian citizens were deported from the U.S. to four countries: Costa Rica, Panama, the Central African Republic, and Moldova.
Among those deported from the U.S. were asylum seekers who feared persecution at home. In 2025, several “deportation” flights carrying Russian citizens left the U.S. They traveled via Egypt and Kuwait, among other countries.
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