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Immigrants Seeking Asylum Are Ordered to Countries They’ve Never Been to, but End up Stuck in Limbo
More than 13,000 cases were ended after a Board of Immigration Appeals ruling expanded removals to countries migrants often never visited.
- More than 13,000 asylum seekers face deportation to so-called 'safe third countries' after the United States government canceled their pending asylum claims, according to data from San Francisco-based Mobile Pathways.
- Following an October ruling by the Justice Department's Board of Immigration Appeals, Immigration and Customs Enforcement attorneys were first instructed last summer to file motions known as 'pretermissions' that end migrants' asylum claims.
- In mid-March, ICE legal officials directed field attorneys to halt new third-country deportation motions via email, though the Department of Homeland Security did not disclose the reason for this unexpected shift.
- Affected immigrants have lost permission to work legally while awaiting potential deportation, compounding dread through immigrant communities; Cassandra Charles, senior staff attorney with the National Immigration Law Center, argues the policy aims to instill fear.
- While Dominica signed an agreement on March 18, 2026, to accept fewer than 30 deportees annually, logistical constraints including limited aircraft have restricted actual removals to fewer than 100 nationwide despite roughly 2 million backlogged asylum cases.
22 Articles
22 Articles
Asylum-seekers stuck in limbo as U.S. orders them to countries they've never been to
More than 13,000 immigrants who were living legally in the U.S., waiting for rulings on asylum claims, have faced so-called third-country deportation orders, destined for countries where most had no ties, according to the nonprofit group Mobile Pathways.
The Afghan man had fled the Taliban to take refuge in northern New York State when U.S. immigration authorities ordered his deportation to Uganda. The Cuban woman worked at a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Texas when she was arrested after a small traffic accident and was told that she was being sent to Ecuador. There is the Mauritanian man living in Michigan who was told that she would have to go to Uganda, the Venezuelan mother in Ohio who was told…
Immigrants seeking asylum ordered to countries they've never been to, stuck in limbo
The Afghan man had fled the Taliban for refuge in upstate New York when U.S. immigration authorities ordered him deported to Uganda. The Cuban woman was working at a Texas Chick-fil-A when she was arrested after a minor traffic accident and told she was being sent to Ecuador.
Associated Press News
Immigrants seeking asylum are ordered to countries they've never been to, but end up stuck in limbo
In recent months, thousands of immigrants living legally in the U.S. and waiting for rulings on their asylum claims were suddenly ordered deported to countries where most have no ties.
Immigrants seeking asylum are ordered to countries they’ve never been to, but end up stuck in limbo
The Afghan man had fled the Taliban for refuge in upstate New York when U.S. immigration authorities ordered him deported to Uganda. The Cuban woman was working at a Texas Chick-fil-A when she was arrested after a minor traffic accident and told she was being sent to Ecuador.
U.S. pressure on Caricom countries continues, Dominica ties up deportee deal
The unrelenting pressure the Trump administration has been exerting on Caribbean community nations to comply with American edicts is continuing, with tiny Dominica saying that it had completed an agreement to accept deportees from the U.S. in the coming weeks. The island’s cabinet says it has completed all negotiations for what has been dubbed the Third Country National Arrangement (TCNA) and is readying to accept a small number of deportees in …
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