Overview

• The Trump administration proposed sending non-citizen deportees to Ukraine in late January 2025, despite the country's ongoing war and lack of functional airports due to Russian airstrikes.
• Ukraine has not accepted any third-party deportees from the U.S., and there is no evidence that the proposal was seriously considered at high levels of the Ukrainian government.
• This effort is part of a broader U.S. strategy to expand deportation agreements with third-party countries through ad hoc negotiations involving incentives and geopolitical leverage.
• Several Latin American countries, including El Salvador, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Panama, have agreed to accept deportees who are not their citizens, while discussions continue with nations like Rwanda and Georgia.
• The documents underscore the administration's unorthodox approach to immigration policy, leveraging foreign relations to achieve deportation objectives, including payments and threats in some cases.