The cornerstone of international refugee protection, establishing the principle of non-refoulement. It prohibits states from returning refugees to countries where they would face persecution based on protected characteristics.
A secret agreement with one of the world's most repressive regimes has stranded 29 deportees in Equatorial Guinea, where they face indefinite detention without counsel or forced deportation to the …
The Trump administration paid Equatorial Guinea $7.5 million in a secretive deal to accept 29 deportees from the United States, as part of a …
The 29 deportees were sent on two flights — November 24, 2025 and January 22, 2026 — and came from nine countries: Ethiopia, Eritrea, …
An accelerated immigration court system that fast-tracks cases through mass remote hearings, with two-thirds of all Somali cases nationwide rescheduled on short notice. The process systematically …
Two-thirds (66.25%) of all Somali noncitizens with open immigration court cases were scheduled for hearings with new judges on short notice, …
Hearings are conducted entirely remotely, with immigrants in Minnesota while judges and government attorneys are in other states. Observers …
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Updated March 26, 2026Deportation & Immigration
Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law ConcernReported record
The administration attempted a mass deportation of unaccompanied minor children in the middle of the night during a holiday weekend, circumventing legal protections that require children to appear …
On August 31, 2025 (Labor Day weekend), 76 unaccompanied Guatemalan children in US government custody were roused from their beds around …
HHS began contacting shelter care providers around 10:00 PM Central time on August 30, ordering them to prepare children for immediate …
The immediate shutdown of the CBP One asylum scheduling app on Inauguration Day cancelled 30,000 appointments and stranded 270,000 asylum seekers, eliminating the primary legal pathway to request …
On January 20, 2025, at noon EST, CBP removed the scheduling functionality from the CBP One app, instantly cancelling approximately 30,000 …
An estimated 270,000 migrants continued logging into the app seeking appointments after the shutdown, indicating the scale of people relying …
The US paid Rwanda, Ghana, Eswatini, and South Sudan to accept deportees who are not their nationals, in deals a federal judge ruled unconstitutional. HRW called the expulsion agreements violations of …
Rwanda agreed to accept up to 250 deportees from the US under a deal involving approximately $7.5 million in US financial support. Eswatini …
US District Judge Brian Murphy ruled the third-country deportation policy violates federal immigration law and migrants' constitutional …
TPS was terminated or targeted for termination across 11 countries, de-documenting over 1 million people. Federal courts have blocked or paused several terminations. The State Department maintains 'Do …
1.6 million people lost their legal right to stay in the United States in 2025 across all TPS and parole terminations -- the largest mass …
TPS was terminated or targeted for 11 countries: Venezuela, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Nepal, Afghanistan, Cameroon, Syria, Somalia, …
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Updated February 28, 2026Deportation & Immigration
ICE Air conducted 2,253 deportation flights to 79 countries in one year -- a 46% increase over the Biden era -- including to 25 countries that had never received ICE flights. Domestic transfer flights …
2,253 deportation flights to 79 countries from January 20, 2025 to January 20, 2026 -- a 46% increase in flights and 76% increase in …
Removal flights included 25 countries that had never previously received ICE deportation flights.
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Updated February 20, 2026Deportation to Torture
Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law ConcernOngoingReported record
The US secretly deported 17 people from 9 African countries to Cameroon under a covert agreement. Deportees were immediately beaten by gendarmes, arbitrarily detained, and subjected to torture. …
Under a secret agreement, the US deported 17 people from 9 African countries (Angola, DRC, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Senegal, Sierra …
Deportees included asylum seekers with court-ordered protections against deportation and at least one stateless person.
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Updated February 2, 2026Deportation & Immigration
Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law ConcernOngoingJudicial finding
The US deported Haitians to a country the FAA banned US airlines from landing in due to gang gunfire, where 90% of the capital is under gang control and 1.4 million are displaced. DHS terminated TPS …
90% of Port-au-Prince is under gang control as of July 2025 according to the United Nations.
The FAA banned US airlines from landing at Port-au-Prince airport after deportation planes came under gang gunfire; flights were rerouted to …
The administration indefinitely suspended refugee resettlement and set the lowest admissions cap in US history at 7,500, prioritizing white Afrikaners, while stranding refugees mid-transit including …
Executive order on January 20, 2025 indefinitely suspended the US Refugee Admissions Program effective January 27.
The FY 2026 refugee cap was set at 7,500 -- the lowest in US history, down from 125,000 under Biden -- with priority given to white South …
DHS Secretary Noem terminated Venezuela TPS, and the Supreme Court allowed it to take effect, de-documenting approximately 350,000 people and exposing them to removal to a country the State Department …
DHS Secretary Noem terminated TPS for Venezuela under the 2023 designation on February 5, 2025.
Approximately 350,000 Venezuelans lost legal status and work authorization.
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Updated September 3, 2025Deportation & Immigration
Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law ConcernOngoingActive litigation
The administration invoked a rarely used 1798 wartime statute to justify accelerated removals of Venezuelan nationals, including transfers into El Salvador's detention system, prompting immediate …
The proclamation treated Tren de Aragua activity as an 'invasion' or 'predatory incursion' under the Alien Enemies Act.
The government used the proclamation to argue for removals with sharply reduced individualized process.
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Updated July 15, 2025Deportation & Immigration
Serious Rights ViolationOngoingOfficial executive action
The administration reinstated 'Remain in Mexico,' forcing asylum seekers to wait in Mexican cities that the US State Department itself rates as 'Level 4: Do Not Travel' due to kidnapping and violence. …
DHS reinstated MPP on January 21, 2025, forcing asylum seekers to wait in Mexican border cities while their cases are processed in US …
MSF documented that in one border city, 75% of MPP patients had been kidnapped while waiting in Mexico under the policy.
The administration imposed an unprecedented total ban on asylum claims at the southern border, shutting down the CBP One app and eliminating all avenues for protection. A federal judge ruled the …
Executive order signed January 20, 2025 suspended all asylum processing at the southern border and shut down the CBP One scheduling app.
The order declared an 'invasion' at the southern border and invoked emergency powers to bypass statutory asylum protections.
DHS terminated humanitarian parole for 532,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, stripping legal status effective April 24, 2025. The Supreme Court allowed the mass revocation in a …
Approximately 532,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela had been granted humanitarian parole under the CHNV programs …
DHS published a Federal Register notice on March 25, 2025 terminating all CHNV parole, with parole expiring April 24, 2025.
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Updated June 6, 2025Deportation & Immigration
Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law ConcernOngoingActive litigation
Federal officials removed Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador despite a preexisting withholding order barring that destination, then spent weeks litigating what it meant to 'facilitate' his return …
An immigration judge had already barred Abrego Garcia's removal to El Salvador.
Public reporting said he was transferred into El Salvador's CECOT prison system.