The Trump administration is sending immigrants and refugees to countries they have no connection to through a third-country deportation policy.
The Department of Homeland Security says the efforts allow the swift removal of people “who are so uniquely barbaric that their own countries won’t take them back.”
The Midwest Newsroom has identified at least 25 people in ICE custody that DHS tried to remove or successfully removed to third countries. Some were taken into immigration custody as soon as they entered the country. Others have been in the country for decades and have family here. Few have been convicted of a violent crime.
The complete cost of expansion of third-country deportations is unknown, according to a Senate Foreign Relations Committee Minority report released earlier this year. But it could be nearly $40 million, funded by taxpayers. And more than 80% of people deported to third countries have already been sent back to their home country.
As part of a project about third-country deportations in the Midwest, we’re asking people if they or someone they know has been at risk of deportation to a country they have no connection to.
If you’d like to share your story, please complete this short survey. We won’t use any information you give us without your permission, and we won’t ever sell it. If you have questions, please email reporter Steph Conquest-Ware at scware@iowapublicradio.org.
The Midwest Newsroom is an investigative and enterprise journalism collaboration that includes Iowa Public Radio, KCUR, Nebraska Public Media, St. Louis Public Radio and NPR. There are many ways you can contact us with story ideas and leads, and you can find that information here. The Midwest Newsroom is a partner of The Trust Project. We invite you to review our ethics and practices here.
