Third-country deportations put US asylum policy under legal scrutiny

A six-month Forbidden Stories investigation, discussed by France 24 and Washington Post reporter Adam Taylor, has examined the Trump administration’s deportation of people from the United States to third countries. The reporting raises concerns about due process, non-refoulement and the risk of persecution, torture or prolonged detention.

Taylor said the investigation found that third-country deportation arrangements had become a major diplomatic priority for the US State Department. He attributed the shift to Stephen Miller and allies in the Trump administration, and said parts of the department’s refugee-related machinery had been redirected towards negotiating agreements with third countries.

The policy involves removing people to countries other than their country of origin, including places with which they may have no connection. The investigation argues that the scale of the arrangements could make individual cases harder for journalists, lawyers, legislators and advocacy groups to scrutinise.

The First Circuit reportedly ruled on 18 September 2026 that the policy was unlawful because people facing removal had not received sufficient notice or an opportunity to raise fear-based objections. The ruling brings the administration’s handling of removals into direct tension with the principle that people should not be returned to places where they face persecution or torture.

The administration maintains that third-country removals are necessary for people with final removal orders who cannot be returned to their countries of origin. The Supreme Court has reportedly twice allowed the deportations to continue while litigation proceeds, but has not issued a final ruling on the policy’s overall legality.