The incoming Trump administration is preparing a list of countries to which it may deport migrants whose home countries refuse to accept them. The countries being considered include Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas, Panama, and Grenada, according to sources familiar with the plans.
The plans could result in thousands or even hundreds of thousands of migrants being permanently displaced in countries where they do not know the language or culture and have no connection to the people. It is unclear if the migrants would be allowed to legally remain in the countries to which they are deported or if they would be forced to leave.
The Trump administration is also pressuring Mexico to accept non-Mexicans who are deported from the United States, including those who may be turned back at the border, and is threatening to use tariffs to compel Mexico to comply.
The plans are part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to deport migrants, with the goal of deporting those arrested within a week. The American Civil Liberties Union and other pro-immigrant rights groups have sued the Trump administration over similar policies in the past, calling them illegal and putting asylum-seekers at grave risk.
The Trump administration is also seeking to work around federal court orders that prohibit indefinitely detaining migrants who are reluctant to accept them back. The plan is to deport them to third-party countries where they may have no connection, in an effort to create what Trump has promised will be “the largest deportation operation in American history.”
