Guyana Begins Receiving Third-Country Deportees From The US

By Staff Writer, NewsAmericas Now

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Sat. Sept. 5, 2026: Guyana has received six people deported from the United States, Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud confirmed, as the Trump administration expands its use of so-called third-country deportations.

Persaud told The Associated Press that a group of Cuban and Afghan nationals arrived in Guyana on Saturday after being deported over immigration issues. None had criminal backgrounds, he said. “The US has not made any further requests” for additional deportations to Guyana at this time, Persaud said.

Persaud said Guyana reached the agreement with the US after months of negotiations. The arrangement will last one year and does not constitute permanent resettlement, according to Persaud. Under the deal, deportees will await the outcome of their immigration process in Guyana and could eventually return to their countries of origin or seek relocation elsewhere. They will receive support through the Assisted Voluntary Return Programme, run by the UN’s International Organisation for Migration.

Third-country deportations involve sending foreign nationals to countries outside their place of origin, often locations where they have no ties, do not speak the language, and have never previously lived. According to Al Jazeera, Amnesty International estimates more than 30 countries have entered similar agreements with the US since Trump returned to office, including 15 in the Americas region, with some deals reportedly involving multimillion-dollar payments.

The Trump administration has defended the practice by arguing that some countries, including Cuba, refuse to accept deportees from the US directly. Rights groups have criticized the approach as an effort to pressure migrants into abandoning their US immigration claims.

Data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University estimates that 70.6% of foreign nationals currently in US immigration detention have no criminal conviction, reflecting the widening scope of deportation efforts under the current administration.

The Guyana arrangement follows a broader pattern of third-country deportation deals this year, including Liberia’s agreement to receive up to 1,200 people over the next 12 months. The push comes as the administration has also stripped legal status from tens of thousands of migrants through the rollback of programs including Temporary Protected Status and humanitarian parole, and has reportedly moved to revoke visas from roughly 200,000 asylum seekers.

NewsAmericas Now will continue tracking third-country deportation agreements affecting the Caribbean and Latin America. Reporting from Al Jazeera and The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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