Congo agrees to take US deportees under third-country removals program

Congo says it will begin receiving deportees from the United States this month under a “third-country” removal deal with the Trump administration, widening a program that moves people to countries other than their own.

According to the Associated Press via The Independent, the Congolese government described the arrangement as temporary and said Washington will cover the logistics so the transfers come at “zero cost” to Congo. The statement offered no figures for how many people will arrive or on what schedule, but said each case would be reviewed individually under Congolese law and national security requirements.

The deal adds Congo to a growing list of states willing to accept U.S. deportees who are not their nationals. The same reporting notes that the U.S. has struck comparable arrangements with at least seven other African countries. Several of those governments have poor human-rights records, a point raised by lawyers and activists who argue the program can bypass the protections that normally constrain removals.

The pressure point is not paperwork but destination. Third-country transfers can include migrants who have won protection orders from U.S. immigration judges barring return to their home countries because of credible threats. Moving such people elsewhere does not resolve the underlying claim; it relocates the risk to a place with fewer legal resources and less outside scrutiny.

The price tag is also becoming visible. Democratic staff on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee estimate the administration has spent at least $40 million to deport roughly 300 migrants to third countries — a cost structure that makes sense only if the goal is deterrence and signalling rather than efficient case processing. Paying to move small numbers long distances turns deportation into a message campaign funded on a per-head basis.

For recipient states, the incentives are different. When the sending country pays, the receiving country can treat deportees as a revenue-free concession that may buy goodwill in trade, aid, or diplomatic leverage later. The Congolese statement’s emphasis on “international solidarity” sits alongside the practical detail that the bill is being picked up elsewhere.

The first flights are expected to land in Congo within weeks. The Congolese government has not said where the deportees will be housed once they arrive.