Thousands of asylum-seekers abandon cases as ICE pursues third-country deportations
Primary region US
Tags Immigration · Justice · Policy
Regions US
A CBS News analysis found that approximately 12,300 asylum-seekers — 16% of those facing third-country removal motions — have withdrawn or abandoned their claims since the Trump administration expanded deportations to third countries. About 17,500 people have been deported to third countries since Trump returned to office, mostly to Mexico. More than 24,000 people have received removal orders to third countries, with 13,300 cases stalled on appeal. The Board of Immigration Appeals decided less than 1% of appeals by end of March. The policy relies on asylum cooperative agreements with countries like Honduras, which accepts only 10 non-Hondurans per month despite over 6,300 removal orders.
Strategic interpretation
The third-country deportation policy appears designed to deter asylum claims by making the process unpredictable and threatening removal to countries with no connection to the migrant. The high rate of claim abandonment suggests the policy is achieving its deterrent effect, though legal challenges and capacity constraints in receiving countries limit its scalability.