The Rwandan government agreed to take in hundreds of migrants from the U.S. in a major win for President Donald Trump’s deportation agenda.
The small, landlocked country in Central Africa will accept up to 250 deportees from the U.S., a spokesperson for their government confirmed to multiple media outlets. The key agreement was reached as the Trump administration works to expand its third-country deportation program, creating more destinations for illegal migrants booted by U.S. immigration officials.
“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 spokesperson Yolande Makolo stated to Reuters.
“Under the agreement, Rwanda has the ability to approve each individual proposed for resettlement,” Makolo continued. “Those approved will be provided with workforce training, healthcare, and accommodation support to jumpstart their lives in Rwanda, giving them the opportunity to contribute to one of the fastest-growing economies in the world over the last decade.”
Neither the State Department nor the Rwandan government responded to requests for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The Rwandan government reportedly agreed to the deal to bolster relations with Washington, D.C.
“When you’re a small country, any time you can find a way consistent with your own policies and values, to be able to talk to a major country about something that it is interested in and not just asking them to take an interest in your issues, it just creates a more productive, obviously not equal, but a more balanced relationship and that’s good for both sides,” an unnamed Rwandan official stated, according to Politico.
Upon entering office, Trump pledged to embark on the largest deportation operation in U.S. history. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has since dramatically boosted its arrest and removal numbers from the Biden era, with tens of thousands of foreign nationals in migrant detention.
To better execute the crackdown, the Trump administration has established more migrant detention centers across the country and has reached key agreements with foreign governments to accept deportees. The Trump White House reached a deal with El Salvador’s government earlier this year to send deportees to CECOT, their country’s infamous mega-prison, and has also sent deportees to South Sudan, Panama and elsewhere.
The Trump administration notched another major win in June when the Supreme Court approved the quick deportation of illegal migrants to countries not specified in their removal orders, blocking a lower court’s order that required the Department of Homeland Security to provide migrants notice and allow them to raise concerns over potential threats of torture before deporting them to a third country.
The deportation agreement is not unique for Rwanda. In 2022, the African nation struck a deal with the United Kingdom to accept its asylum seekers, but Britain’s Supreme Court later ruled the deal to be unlawful.
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