Trump’s ‘cruel and lawless’ deportation scheme spent $44M sending 17,400 people to places they’ve never been, report finds

NewsWorldAmericasUS politicsTrump’s ‘cruel and lawless’ deportation scheme spent $44M sending 17,400 people to places they’ve never been, report findsImmigrants who fear torture and persecution in their home countries are being sent to ‘third countries’ that could deport them to the same places they fled, a sweeping new report findsAlex Woodward in New York Thursday 07 May 2026 22:46 BSTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":true,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b2972589","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-admin-deportation-scheme-ice-b2972589.html","title":"Trump’s ‘lawless’ scheme deported 17,400 people to countries they’ve never been"}}CloseRelated: Eswatini confirms it received millions for accepting US deporteesSign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington emailGet our free Inside Washington emailEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"regSourceNewsletter":"NSC","regTitle":"Inside Washington","subscriptionGroup":"inside_washington","subscriptionGroupId":"af764e04-87eb-45e6-a84b-a7455ba70a1e","type":"inside_washington","pathPrefix":"/news/world/americas/us-politics","associatedAuthors":["Eric Garcia","John Bowden"],"title":"Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox","mobileTitle":"Get our free Inside Washington email","imageSrc":"https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/images/newsletters/insideWashington1_1.png","label":"I would like to receive morning headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts by email","newsletterKey":"receiv...