Uganda announced on Thursday that it would accept deported U.S. illegal immigrants who aren’t from the country, setting itself up as a safe third country for deportees concerned about persecution if sent to their home countries.
The deal stipulated that illegal migrants sent to Uganda won’t be unaccompanied minors or have a criminal record, according to Ugandan Foreign Affairs Secretary Bagiire Vincent Waiswa. He also stressed that the deal was temporary and that Uganda’s capital, Kampala, and Washington, D.C., are still discussing specifics.
“The Agreement is in respect of Third Country Nationals who may not be granted asylum in the United States but are reluctant to or may have concerns about returning to their countries of origin,” Waiswa said.
“Uganda also prefers that individuals from African countries shall be the ones transferred to Uganda,” he added.
The announcement comes as a surprise. A day before, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Henry Oryem Okello told Reuters that such a deal wouldn’t occur after a CBS News report citing internal U.S. government documents said deals were worked out with Uganda and Honduras.
“To the best of my knowledge, we have not reached such an agreement,” Okello said. “We do not have the facilities and infrastructure to accommodate such illegal immigrants in Uganda.”
Uganda is the latest of several countries, mostly in Africa, that have struck deals with the Trump administration to accept deported illegal immigrants from unrelated countries. The Trump administration hopes to use the tactic to lighten the load on its strained immigration system, as President Donald Trump attempts to carry out the largest deportation operation in U.S. history.
The tactic famously began with El Salvador and soon expanded to Costa Rica, Panama, Eswatini, and South Sudan. Rwanda announced earlier this month that it struck its own deal to accept U.S. deportees.
Rwanda’s deal also stipulates what illegal immigrants it will accept, restricting it only to those who have completed their prison terms and aren’t child sex offenders. Kigali, the country’s capital, also has a 250-cap on the number of accepted deportees, all of which have to be approved on a case-by-case basis.
“Rwanda has agreed with the United States to accept up to 250 migrants, in part because nearly every Rwandan family has experienced the hardships of displacement, and our societal values are founded on reintegration and rehabilitation,” Rwandan government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo said.
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The Supreme Court cleared the Trump administration to send illegal immigrants to third countries temporarily on June 23.
Though only a relatively small number of illegal immigrants have been sent to third countries, too few to make a serious and tangible impact, the threat of deportation to an unfamiliar country is part of the Trump administration’s wider strategy of deterrence. The hope is that the prospect will prompt illegal immigrants to either self-deport or not come to the U.S. in the first place.
