Washington — What We Know About Trump's Secret Deportation Deals

A 32-year-old Iranian woman who fled her country's crackdown on protesters was deported this year not to Iran but to Central African Republic, a nation she said she had never heard of, according to a Guardian investigation published Sept. 21, 2026. Her case is one of thousands built on what the Guardian describes as undisclosed US agreements with dozens of countries to accept deportees who are not their own citizens.

What happened to the Iranian woman deported to Central African Republic?

Nika, whose full name the Guardian withheld to protect relatives still in Iran, left the country 18 months before her deportation after taking part in anti-government protests, the outlet reported. She spent more than a year in US immigration detention before a judge granted her legal protections and ordered her release, the Guardian found. The Department of Homeland Security rearrested her within two weeks, and days later she was on a flight roughly 7,000 miles east, according to the investigation. She told the Guardian officers restrained her with handcuffs that "dug into her wrists" and taunted detainees who asked where the plane was headed; passengers said they learned their destination only when seat-back screens displayed a flight map.

What are third-country deportation deals?

The arrangements, sometimes called third-country national agreements, allow the US to deport people to nations other than their home country when that home country will not accept them or when officials choose an alternate destination, the Guardian reported. Nika was among 18 migrants on her flight, some of whom the Guardian said were restrained in body wraps after resisting boarding. The State Department separately advises US citizens not to travel to Central African Republic because of danger there, according to the Guardian's reporting.

How many countries and deportees are involved?

The Guardian's investigation describes deals reached with dozens of countries and says thousands of people have been removed from the US under them, though the outlet did not publish a single consolidated count of flights or total dollars spent. The reporting characterizes the program's cost to American taxpayers as running into the millions of dollars, based on the Guardian's review of the arrangements.

Why do critics call the policy a 'show of force'?

Human rights lawyers quoted by the Guardian said the third-country arrangements function as a "show of force" intended to discourage asylum seekers from pursuing US claims at all. The administration has not detailed the diplomatic terms of the individual country agreements, according to the investigation, leaving deportees like Nika to learn their destination only in transit.

What to watch next

• Whether any of the destination countries named in the Guardian's reporting formally confirm the terms of their agreements with Washington.
• Court challenges from deportees or advocacy groups seeking to compel disclosure of the underlying contracts.
• Additional flights to countries under State Department travel warnings, a pattern the Guardian's investigation flagged as recurring.
• Congressional inquiries into the total cost of third-country removals, a figure the Guardian says has not been fully disclosed.

Nika told the Guardian she now spends most days confined to a small residence in Central African Republic, too afraid to go outside.