U.S. Deported Over 21,000 People to Countries Under Travel Warnings

A Marshall Project analysis of Immigration and Customs Enforcement records found that the U.S. government deported more than 21,000 people to countries under State Department travel warnings from inauguration through mid-March. The countries include active conflict zones such as Ukraine and nations the department has described as high-risk for terrorism, kidnapping, or arbitrary detention.

The same data set recorded more than 200 deportations to Iran during the 13 months before the recent airstrikes. Eighteen of those individuals arrived in the final days before the strikes, according to the analysis.

Three planeloads of people were sent to Iran after September, Human Rights First reported. The passengers included at least one Christian convert and one political dissident, groups human rights organizations have said face persecution upon return. More than 18,000 people were deported to Venezuela during the same period.

Roughly 200 of those individuals were not Venezuelan citizens. The deportations continued in the weeks surrounding U.S. military action that removed the prior government.

U.S. immigration law permits removal after immigration court proceedings, even when the destination country carries a travel warning. The State Department advisories state they apply to U.S. citizens and do not govern decisions about foreign nationals.

Susan Akram of Boston University’s International Human Rights Clinic said the practice raises questions under the 1980 Refugee Act and international treaties incorporated into U.S. law. Andrew Arthur, a former immigration judge now at the Center for Immigration Studies, said individuals receive multiple opportunities to raise safety concerns before removal orders are executed.

The administration has moved to end Temporary Protected Status for several of the same countries, including Venezuela, Haiti, Somalia, and Afghanistan. More than 1,300 people were deported to Haiti and hundreds more to Somalia and Afghanistan during the period studied.

In a small number of cases, deportations occurred to countries without formal diplomatic relations, including three individuals sent to North Korea according to the ICE records.