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President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts gained new momentum this week when Rwanda signed a formal third-country agreement, part of a broader push to partner with nations willing to accept deportees whose home countries refuse to take them back or present other barriers.
RWANDA
Officials in Rwanda agreed to take in 250 illegal immigrants in a deal forged with the State Department Tuesday, joining nearly a half-dozen other nations that have done the same.
When the talks between Washington and Kigali began earlier this year, Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe said the idea is not new to his country, as it previously forged a similar deal with the United Kingdom that was nixed by a London court.
Illegal immigrants deported from the U.S. will be given help to get back on their feet, according to a spokesperson for Rwandan President Paul Kagame.
They will need to be individually approved for resettlement and then receive “workforce training, healthcare and accommodation to jump-start their lives in Rwanda,” the spokeswoman, Yolande Makolo, told the BBC.
ESWATINI/SWAZILAND
In another African nation, Eswatini, named Swaziland until 2018, five foreign nationals were deported from the U.S. to Mbabane in July.
But that operation reportedly lacked the same formal third-country agreement as Rwanda.
The tiny landlocked country, the last absolute monarchy on the continent, abuts Mozambique and South Africa.
The deported men were all convicted of crimes ranging from battery to murder to gang activity and methamphetamine-related offenses.
“This flight took individuals so uniquely barbaric that their home countries refused to take them back,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
“These depraved monsters have been terrorizing American communities, but thanks to [Trump and Secretary Kristi Noem] they are off of American soil.”
The convicts hailed from Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, Cuba and Yemen.
A spokesman for King Mswati III, who has ruled Eswatini since 1986, told the BBC Eswatini hopes to “facilitate” returning the criminals to their homelands.
SOUTH SUDAN
South Sudan also received eight deportees in July.
Boston federal Judge Brian Murphy issued a preliminary injunction blocking Sudanese deportations and others, ruling migrants needed opportunities to file for protection under a U.S. diplomatic Convention Against Torture (CAT) that precludes expatriation to dangerous countries.
The Supreme Court later stayed Murphy’s ruling.
COSTA RICA
In February, Costa Rica agreed to accept 200 deported migrants, which included some foreign nationals from India, according to VisaVerge. That nation’s law allows temporary migrant sheltering.
The government in San Jose also reportedly forged a $7.8 million deal in which the U.S. would help it deport immigrants, according to Reuters. The wire service further confirmed the February report.
PANAMA
Also in February, Panama’s foreign ministry told CBS News its first flight of about 200 non-Panamanian deportees arrived from the U.S. under another agreement forged with Washington.
The U.S. will cover the cost of those deportations, which included migrants of mostly Asian descent, from countries like China, Uzbekistan, Nepal, India and Vietnam. Migrants from as far afield as Cameroon and Iran were also reportedly among the group.
EL SALVADOR
The most visible country to aid in deportation efforts has been El Salvador, where congressional Democrats flew after a suspected human trafficker living in Maryland was deported to its infamous CECOT prison.
Democrats like Hunter Biden have called out the Trump administration for the effort, which has been met by incredulous responses, such as a retort from Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele.
Bukele poked fun at Biden’s past drug use in response, asking on X if he was “sniffing powdered milk” when the former first son claimed he would threaten to invade El Salvador if he were elected president and if it refused to return deportees.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., was the first to fly to San Salvador to visit Garcia, a trip that appeared to inspire more Democrats to go and others to attempt to gain entry into domestic ICE sites in Newark, Baltimore and New York City.
Fox News’ Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
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