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Gone quiet · last update Oct 6, 2026 / South Sudan

Trump's deportations of migrants to third countries, from Panama to South Sudan

Overview · reviewed October 11, 2026

The Trump administration has deported migrants to countries where they have no ties, among them Panama, Costa Rica, South Sudan, Eswatini and Liberia.[1][2][3][4][5] A federal judge ruled the policy unlawful in February 2026,[6] and in September the Supreme Court let the deportations resume while it considers the case.[7]

Read the timeline

Follow this story to see new developments when you return.

A federal judge ruled the policy unlawful in February 2026,[6] and in September the Supreme Court let the deportations resume while it considers the case.[7]

Coverage over time

Share of tracked outlets · weekly (UTC)

Week of 2025-02-03 (UTC): 5%, 9 of 190 tracked outlets (1 left, 7 center, 1 right)Week of 2025-02-10 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-02-17 (UTC): 5%, 9 of 194 tracked outlets (2 left, 5 center, 2 right)Week of 2025-02-24 (UTC): 3%, 6 of 197 tracked outlets (3 left, 2 center, 1 right)Week of 2025-03-03 (UTC): 10%, 20 of 202 tracked outlets (4 left, 14 center, 2 right)Week of 2025-03-10 (UTC): 2%, 3 of 198 tracked outlets (1 left, 2 center, 0 right)Week of 2025-03-17 (UTC): 4%, 8 of 195 tracked outlets (2 left, 5 center, 1 right)Week of 2025-03-24 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-03-31 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-04-07 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-04-14 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-04-21 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-04-28 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-05-05 (UTC): 4%, 8 of 201 tracked outlets (4 left, 1 center, 3 right)Week of 2025-05-12 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-05-19 (UTC): 21%, 42 of 197 tracked outlets (13 left, 13 center, 16 right)Week of 2025-05-26 (UTC): 9%, 18 of 191 tracked outlets (5 left, 9 center, 4 right)Week of 2025-06-02 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-06-09 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-06-16 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-06-23 (UTC): 7%, 9 of 137 tracked outlets (2 left, 7 center, 0 right)Week of 2025-06-30 (UTC): 14%, 30 of 217 tracked outlets (7 left, 16 center, 7 right)Week of 2025-07-07 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-07-14 (UTC): 10%, 18 of 184 tracked outlets (5 left, 12 center, 1 right)Week of 2025-07-21 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-07-28 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-08-04 (UTC): 7%, 13 of 194 tracked outlets (4 left, 7 center, 2 right)Week of 2025-08-11 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-08-18 (UTC): 6%, 12 of 191 tracked outlets (4 left, 4 center, 4 right)Week of 2025-08-25 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-09-01 (UTC): 6%, 10 of 177 tracked outlets (1 left, 8 center, 1 right)Week of 2025-09-08 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-09-15 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-09-22 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-09-29 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-10-06 (UTC): 2%, 3 of 181 tracked outlets (2 left, 1 center, 0 right)Week of 2025-10-13 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-10-20 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-10-27 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-11-03 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-11-10 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-11-17 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-11-24 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-12-01 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-12-08 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-12-15 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-12-22 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-12-29 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-01-05 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-01-12 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-01-19 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-01-26 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-02-02 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-02-09 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-02-16 (UTC): 2%, 3 of 178 tracked outlets (1 left, 1 center, 1 right)Week of 2026-02-23 (UTC): 6%, 12 of 186 tracked outlets (4 left, 6 center, 2 right)Week of 2026-03-02 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-03-09 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-03-16 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-03-23 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-03-30 (UTC): 2%, 4 of 190 tracked outlets (1 left, 2 center, 1 right)Week of 2026-04-06 (UTC): 3%, 4 of 154 tracked outlets (1 left, 2 center, 1 right)Week of 2026-04-13 (UTC): 3%, 4 of 156 tracked outlets (3 left, 0 center, 1 right)Week of 2026-04-20 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-04-27 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-05-04 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-05-11 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-05-18 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-05-25 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-06-01 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-06-08 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-06-15 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-06-22 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-06-29 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-07-06 (UTC): 2%, 11 of 560 tracked outlets (3 left, 5 center, 3 right)Week of 2026-07-13 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-07-20 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-07-27 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-08-03 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-08-10 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-08-17 (UTC): 6%, 30 of 464 tracked outlets (9 left, 12 center, 9 right)Week of 2026-08-24 (UTC): 1%, 6 of 466 tracked outlets (3 left, 2 center, 1 right)Week of 2026-08-31 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-09-07 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-09-14 (UTC): 2%, 9 of 480 tracked outlets (6 left, 1 center, 2 right)Week of 2026-09-21 (UTC): 8%, 38 of 479 tracked outlets (8 left, 21 center, 9 right)Week of 2026-09-28 (UTC): 14%, 66 of 476 tracked outlets (18 left, 29 center, 19 right)Week of 2026-10-05 (UTC): 1%, 6 of 479 tracked outlets (2 left, 2 center, 2 right)Week of 2026-10-12 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-10-19 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-10-26 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-11-02 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-11-09 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outlets, so far

LeftCenterRightLighter bar: this week so far

Each bar is the share of the outlets on our Left / Center / Right rating scale that we tracked publishing that week which carried reporting on this story, split by the outlets' ratings. We track more outlets now than in the archive, so a share keeps earlier and later weeks comparable. An outlet counts once a week however much it published, and outlets in one ownership or syndication group count as one on each side they appear on. A rating describes the outlet, not the report. A gap means no such reports were collected that week, not that nothing was reported anywhere. Weeks run Monday to Sunday in UTC, so a report published on a Sunday evening in US Eastern time counts in the next week. 6 more outlets off the scale (not rated, or outside the left-right graphs) also reported; they are not in this chart. See them.

Weekly counts, outlets and reports (28 weeks with coverage)
Outlets on the rating scale that carried this story each week, of the outlets tracked that week, newest first
Week of (UTC)LeftCenterRightOf trackedShareReceipts
Oct 5, 20262226 of 4791%
Sep 28, 202618291966 of 47614%
Sep 21, 2026821938 of 4798%
Sep 14, 20266129 of 4802%
Aug 24, 20263216 of 4661%
Aug 17, 2026912930 of 4646%
Jul 6, 202635311 of 5602%
Apr 13, 20263014 of 1563%
Apr 6, 20261214 of 1543%
Mar 30, 20261214 of 1902%
Feb 23, 202646212 of 1866%
Feb 16, 20261113 of 1782%
Oct 6, 20252103 of 1812%
Sep 1, 202518110 of 1776%
Aug 18, 202544412 of 1916%
Aug 4, 202547213 of 1947%
Jul 14, 2025512118 of 18410%
Jun 30, 2025716730 of 21714%
Jun 23, 20252709 of 1377%
May 26, 202559418 of 1919%
May 19, 202513131642 of 19721%
May 5, 20254138 of 2014%
Mar 17, 20252518 of 1954%
Mar 10, 20251203 of 1982%
Mar 3, 2025414220 of 20210%
Feb 24, 20253216 of 1973%
Feb 17, 20252529 of 1945%
Feb 3, 20251719 of 1905%

Latest coverage

The newest reporting in this story's record.

  1. Oct 6, 2026 · first reported · Headline from The Oregonian

    U.S. sends deported Mexicans to Guatemala, not home

Background

In February 2025 Guatemala pledged to accept deportees of other nationalities,[8] and a US flight carrying 135 deportees of mostly Asian origin, half of them minors, landed in Costa Rica.[2] In March, Panama released dozens of deportees it had held for weeks in a remote camp.[1]

Read the full background (2 more paragraphs)

In May 2025 a federal judge in Massachusetts said the deportation of several immigrants to South Sudan had violated his order to give detainees a meaningful chance to challenge their removal.[3] The Supreme Court cleared the way for their deportation in July.[9] That month the United States sent five immigrants to Eswatini.[4] In August, Rwanda agreed to take up to 250 deportees,[10] and Uganda agreed to take those without criminal records who were not unaccompanied minors.[11]

In February 2026 a federal judge ruled that the policy of deporting immigrants to countries to which they have no ties was unlawful and must be set aside.[6] Liberia agreed in August to accept up to 1,200 deportees, and the first 20 arrived.[5] The United States also sent nearly 2,300 Mexicans to Guatemala in 2026.[12] In September the administration asked the Supreme Court to allow quick third-country deportations to continue,[13] and the court let them resume while it considers the legality of the practice.[7]

Supporting stories (13)
  1. Panama releases dozens of detained deportees from US into limbo
  2. Facing pressure from Trump, Costa Rica and Honduras begin taking deportees
  3. Trump administration South Sudan deportation attempt violated court order, judge says
  4. US deports immigrants from Jamaica, Cuba and other countries to the African kingdom of Eswatini
  5. First 20 U.S. Deportees Arrive in Liberia Under Third-Country Deal Expected to Include Venezuelans and Cubans
  6. Trump administration’s ‘third country’ deportation policy is unlawful, judge rules
  7. Deportations to third countries can resume
  8. Guatemala will accept migrants from other countries deported from the US
  9. Judge briefly blocks immigrants’ deportation to South Sudan, but legal path eventually cleared
  10. Rwanda says it reaches a deal with U.S. to take in up to 250 migrants
  11. Uganda agrees to take deported migrants from US if they don’t have criminal records
  12. More than 2,300 Mexicans sent to Guatemala and Honduras as Trump ramps up third-country deportations
  13. Trump administration asks the Supreme Court to allow quick third-country deportations to continue

The full record

Each date is when an update was first reported.

All 34 recorded updates

October 2026

  1. U.S. sends deported Mexicans to Guatemala, not homeHeadline from The Oregonian · 5 outlets

September 2026

  1. Deportations to third countries can resumeHeadline from St. Louis Post-Dispatch · 68 outlets
  2. Trump administration asks the Supreme Court to allow quick third-country deportations to continueHeadline from WDIO Duluth · 45 outlets

August 2026

  1. Deportees who refused to exit a US flight in Liberia are sent to Equatorial GuineaHeadline from WTOP Washington DC · 7 outlets
  2. More than 2,300 Mexicans sent to Guatemala and Honduras as Trump ramps up third-country deportationsHeadline from Philadelphia Inquirer · 15 outlets
  3. First 20 U.S. Deportees Arrive in Liberia Under Third-Country Deal Expected to Include Venezuelans and CubansHeadline from Latin Times · 24 outlets
  4. U.S. deporting Mexican migrants to Guatemala and Honduras, angering MexicoHeadline from CBS News · 5 outlets

July 2026

  1. Suspected Ebola patient placed in Equatorial Guinea hotel with deportees from the US, lawyers sayHeadline from WDIO Duluth · 10 outlets
  2. Eswatini receives 11 people deported from the US as part of migration crackdownHeadline from Philadelphia Inquirer · 5 outlets

April 2026

  1. About 15 Latin American deportees from the US have arrived in Congo, lawyer saysHeadline from MyNorthwest · 5 outlets
  2. Congo to receive third-country deportees from the US under new dealHeadline from MyNorthwest · 9 outlets

February 2026

  1. Trump administration’s ‘third country’ deportation policy is unlawful, judge rulesHeadline from Las Vegas Review-Journal · 13 outlets
  2. US deported gay asylum-seeker to third country where homosexuality is illegalHeadline from ABC 13 Houston · 3 outlets

October 2025

  1. 10 more deportees from the US arrive in the African nation of EswatiniHeadline from The Hill · 4 outlets

September 2025

  1. South Sudan repatriates Mexican man deported from USHeadline from KESQ Palm Springs · 11 outlets

August 2025

  1. Uganda agrees to take deported migrants from US if they don’t have criminal recordsHeadline from The Hill · 15 outlets
  2. Rwanda says it reaches a deal with U.S. to take in up to 250 migrantsHeadline from NBC News · 16 outlets

July 2025

  1. Men Deported by US to Eswatini in Africa Will Be Held in Solitary Confinement for Undetermined TimeHeadline from Military.com · 7 outlets
  2. US deports immigrants from Jamaica, Cuba and other countries to the African kingdom of EswatiniHeadline from KOB 4 · 17 outlets
  3. Judge briefly blocks immigrants’ deportation to South Sudan, but legal path eventually clearedHeadline from Seattle Times · 31 outlets

June 2025

  1. Supreme Court allows Trump to remove migrants to South Sudan and other turmoil-filled countriesHeadline from Local News 8 · 9 outlets

May 2025

  1. Trump administration working to return Guatemalan man deported to MexicoHeadline from The Hill · 7 outlets
  2. Trump asks Supreme Court to halt judge’s order blocking deportations of criminal migrants to South SudanHeadline from New York Post · 15 outlets
  3. A federal judge orders the Trump administration to return a Guatemalan deported to MexicoHeadline from Los Angeles Times · 8 outlets
  4. Judge says Trump administration violated court order on third-country deportationsHeadline from GBH News · 4 outlets

Coverage & sources

Read the reports, see how much was collected over time, or compare outlets by political leaning.

Coverage & sources →