African countries could become the latest nations to accept illegal immigrants the Trump administration seeks to deport from the United States.
Rwanda, Angola, Benin, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, and Lybia are among the countries reportedly holding discussions with the U.S. on the matter, with Rwanda’s foreign affairs minister confirming late Sunday that his country is in “ongoing talks” with the U.S. to take migrants.
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“We are in discussions with the United States,” Olivier Nduhungirehe said during an interview with state broadcaster Rwanda TV. “It has not yet reached a stage where we can say exactly how things will proceed, but the talks are ongoing … still in the early stages.”
Nduhungirehe noted that the talks are “not new to us,” a reference to Rwanda’s previous agreement with Great Britain to take in thousands of U.K. migrants in 2022. The deal fell through in 2024 when newly elected British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the plan a “gimmick,” saying he was “not going to continue a policy I don’t think is going to work, which is going to cost a fortune.”
Speaking to the latest talks his country is holding with the U.S., Nduhungirehe said they are still “in the initial stages.” The discussions have been taking place since shortly after Trump took office in January, per the Washington Post.
“They are not yet conclusive to determine the direction this will take,” Nduhungirehe said Sunday. “But we continue to talk about this problem of migrants.”
His words come after CBS reported on Monday that Rwanda and other African countries were among locations the Trump administration had identified as places that could accept deportations of third-country nationals, citing undisclosed internal government documents and officials. Rwanda and Libya have been cited by other outlets as prospects ever since the Wall Street Journal reported in early April that the Trump administration was eying Africa as a third-party holder for illegal immigrants.
While he didn’t divulge details, White House border czar Tom Homan confirmed Monday that there are “talks underway with other countries that are willing to take illegal aliens.”
“Their own countries won’t take them, so we’ll find a third safe country willing to take them,” he told reporters.
US PARTNERS WITH UZBEKISTAN ON PAID DEPORTATION OPERATION
El Salvador has taken in migrants, including Tren de Aragua Venezuelan gang members, while Panama and Costa Rica have also accepted illegal immigrants deported from the U.S. In February, Guatemala also agreed to receive third-country deportees from the U.S.
The U.S. has also partnered with Uzbekistan, with the Department of Homeland Security announcing last week that the U.S. and the central Asian country’s government had partnered to remove 113 citizens of the three countries: Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. The Uzbekistan government “fully funded” the return of its citizens, according to DHS.
The Trump administration is also pushing illegal immigrants to self-deport as a “dignified” way to leave the U.S. On Monday, DHS announced a policy giving illegal immigrants a $1,000 payment if they leave the country.