- Paraguay accepted 16 migrants deported from the United States under a bilateral safe third country agreement.
- The transfer is part of a growing global network where non-nationals are removed to third-party countries.
- The U.S. government allocated 40 million dollars to incentivize foreign governments to accept these third-country deportees.
(PARAGUAY) – Paraguay received 16 third-country migrants deported from the United States on April 23, 2026, after an initial plan for 25 arrivals was cut because only 16 met the legal requirements for entry and temporary stay.
The Paraguayan Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the arrival on Thursday and said, “Each case has been evaluated individually, in full respect of national sovereignty, immigration laws, and international law.”
U.S. officials framed the transfer as part of a bilateral arrangement tied to removals from U.S. custody. The group consisted of Spanish-speaking non-citizens who had previously been held by U.S. authorities.
Two days before the flight, Robert Alter, Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Paraguay, described the agreement in an official statement. “These migrants do not have pending asylum applications in the United States. The intention of this collaboration is to facilitate the safe and orderly return of these individuals to their countries of origin.”
Alter also called the arrangement a “testament to Washington’s close relationship with Paraguay” and a step in bilateral cooperation. His statement came on April 21, 2026, ahead of the group’s arrival.
The legal basis for the transfer traces to a Safe Third Country Agreement, also described as an Asylum Cooperative Agreement, signed on August 14, 2025. The notice was published in the Federal Register on December 23, 2025.
That framework allows the United States to shift asylum processing to another country under a formal agreement. In practice, it lets U.S. authorities remove certain migrants without processing asylum claims on U.S. soil when a designated third country accepts them.
Paraguay is one of several countries that have entered into such arrangements with Washington. The list in this case includes Costa Rica, El Salvador, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, and South Sudan.
The current administration has used those deals as part of a broader mass deportation push. It is also seeking similar arrangements with up to 47 additional countries.
Most of the people sent to Paraguay are not Paraguayan nationals. Many have no direct ties to the country, including linguistic, cultural, or family connections.
U.S. officials said the deportees had no pending asylum claims in the United States. Advocacy groups dispute whether they had a meaningful chance to challenge removal before transfer.
Critics have condemned the practice in blunt terms. The Uganda Law Society and the ACLU of Texas described such transfers as “transnational repression” and an “undignified, harrowing, and dehumanizing process.”
Money also sits behind the policy. The U.S. government has allocated over $40 million in contracts to foreign governments, including Paraguay, to incentivize the acceptance and detention of third-country deportees.
The reduction from 25 planned arrivals to 16 underscored Paraguay’s role in screening each case before entry. The foreign ministry said only those who “meet the legal requirements for entry and temporary stay in the country” could be admitted at this stage.
That language placed the final decision on entry with Paraguayan authorities, even under a U.S.-backed transfer arrangement. It also suggested that the agreement does not result in automatic admission for every migrant placed on a flight.
The diplomatic and legal machinery behind the transfer has developed across several U.S. agencies. Material on the policy has appeared through the DHS Newsroom, the USCIS Newsroom, the U.S. Embassy in Paraguay, and the Federal Register, where the agreement notice was published.
Paraguay’s involvement places it inside a growing network of countries willing to receive people removed from the United States despite having no direct connection to their territory. That shift has widened the reach of U.S. immigration enforcement far beyond the border and beyond the nationality of the people being removed.
The case also highlights the mechanics of third country migrants transfers under safe-country designations. Once the United States classifies a partner nation as a lawful destination under an agreement, removal can proceed through that partner rather than through U.S. asylum processing.
Officials have presented that system as orderly cooperation between governments. Advocacy groups have presented it as a removal pipeline that leaves migrants in countries where they may know no one and have no clear path forward.
Thursday’s arrival made Paraguay the latest testing ground for that policy. Alter’s statement, issued before the flight landed, made clear that Washington sees the arrangement as more than a one-off transfer and as a model for wider use.
Whether the program expands now depends on how many other governments accept the same terms. On April 23, 2026, Paraguay accepted 16 people, not 25, after reviewing each case one by one.
