(Adnkronos) – As part of the promise of mass deportation of migrants, Donald Trump is preparing to deport migrants that he cannot repatriate to third countries. And the president-elect’s team is already preparing a list of countries, including Turks and Caicos, Bahamas, Panama and Grenada, sources told Nbcnews, specifying that the program would include migrants whose countries of origin – such as Venezuela, Cuba and China – refuse to accept.
It is unclear whether these thousands, perhaps hundreds, of migrants who could be transferred to countries with which they have no ties and whose language they do not speak, will be allowed to live and work in those countries. Nor is it known what kind of diplomatic and economic pressure is being exerted on the countries concerned which, according to sources, have already been contacted by Trump’s team and have been offered an agreement.
When asked for comment, a spokeswoman for the Panamanian government, Carmen Mora, however, replied that she “would not comment on assumptions and rumours, we prefer to engage with the new administration when it is in office”. While the other governments concerned have not commented.
Already during his first term, in 2019 Trump sent migrants to Guatemala, which had agreed to take in asylum seekers entering the US, who were put on planes without being told their destination. The practice, which continued in 2020 and was then suspended due to the pandemic, was challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union and the case is still ongoing.
Trump also intends to persuade Mexico to accept not only migrants who are turned back at the border, which it already does, but also planeloads of migrants, non-Mexican citizens, deported from the US. This was revealed by sources at Nbcnews, who pointed out that it will not be easy to obtain Mexico’s consent and that Trump will use, as he is already doing, the threat of tariffs to force it.
