The 8 ‘third countries’ where ICE deports the most people

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Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been deporting thousands of people to their home countries, but many are also being sent to "third countries," nations the deportee is not originally from. This often leaves the deported person stranded in a place where they do not speak the language or understand the customs.

Mexico

While thousands of Mexican migrants have been deported to Mexico, the country has also been far and away the one with the greatest number of third-country deportations. About 20,000 people without Mexican heritage have been deported to Mexico during the second Trump administration, according to Refugees International's Third Country Deportation Watch (TCDW) .

These deported people are also racing against the clock , as the Mexican government "gives third-country citizens just 10 days to remain in the country, with its overstretched asylum system the only option for most," said the Washington Office on Latin America . As it stands, at least "1,100 deported people per month in Mexico are citizens of other Latin American nations."

Guatemala

Though the third country agreement between the U.S. and Guatemala wasn't renegotiated until July 2025, ICE has been ramping up deportations significantly since then. Several thousand people have since been sent to Guatemala, including 2,284 Mexicans deported to the country from the U.S. between April and August 2026, according to the TCDW.

This marked a notable change for Mexican deportees, given that before the deal with Guatemala, most Mexicans deported from the U.S. were "sent almost exclusively back to their country by air and land," said The Associated Press . But these migrants are "part of a 'transit stopover' before being taken to Mexico as part of an 'arrangement' with the Mexican government," said Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo.

Panama

About 360 non-Panamanians have been deported from the U.S. to Panama, according to the TCDW. The nation has been a third-country destination during almost all of the second Trump administration. In one instance, a group of refugees "were put on U.S. military planes," said Human Rights Watch . They didn't know their destination and "realized they were in Panama only after landing."

Another notable story came just one month after President Donald Trump returned to power, when "hundreds of asylum-seekers were sent to Panama instead of being allowed to present claims in the United States," said the American Immigration Council . They were eventually "released by the Panamanian government and told they had 30 days to leave the country."

Costa Rica

Costa Rica is another large Central American third-country destination where about 331 people have been deported from the United States, the TCDW said. Costa Rica agreed to take on these people because the country "seeks a closer alliance with Donald Trump's government, which has been securing cooperation from other Central American countries in accepting deportees from other nations who have been detained by U.S. immigration agents," said The Guardian .

Human rights observers are concerned that "some of the people being deported to Costa Rica may be asylum-seekers who were never given a fair chance to present their cases in the United States," said Refugees International .

El Salvador

About 250 people without El Salvadorian heritage have been sent to the country from the U.S., according to the TCDW. Flights to El Salvador are relatively new, as ICE transfers to the nation only began in July 2026.

This number may seem minimal, and it is generally true that third-country deportations only "represent a small share of U.S. removals," said the Migration Policy Institute . When it comes to the Trump administration's deportation efforts, though, "fear may be their main function."

Honduras

While Mexican immigrants are being sent to Guatemala, many others are also being sent to Honduras ; about 170 non-Hondurans have been deported to the country, according to the TCDW. A transfer deal between the U.S. and Honduras has been in place since October 2025.

Officials have said that "one of the objectives of the deportations, which have not been formally announced by the U.S. government, is to deter illegal immigration from Mexico by sending some of its citizens further south and farther away from the U.S.-Mexico border," said CBS News in a report on deportations to Honduras and Guatemala. This comes as Mexico has "voiced its opposition to the deportation of Mexican citizens to other countries."

Uzbekistan

While most countries in this list are in Central America, one nation thousands of miles away also makes a surprising appearance: Uzbekistan. Over 130 people have been deported to the Central Asian nation as a third country, according to the TCDW.

Many of the deportees to Uzbekistan are from neighboring Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. There have been concerns about how these deportees are being treated in Uzbekistan, particularly "given that human rights organizations have documented a consistent pattern of harassment, restrictions and reprisals against activists and rights defenders" in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, said the Global Detention Project , which could create "risks for those being returned."

Ghana

Over 100 people living in the U.S. without Ghanaian heritage have been deported to Ghana , according to the TCDW. But unlike some other nations on this list, legal action has actually been taken against Ghana, with an "international coalition of human rights lawyers and advocates" suing the country, said The Associated Press .

The lawsuit accuses Ghana of not allowing these people to stay in the country, instead "forcing deportees from the U.S. back to the home countries they had fled in violation of their rights," said the AP. Many of these people were allegedly "flown from Ghana to their home countries within hours or days of arriving."