Officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have been holding talks with the Trump administration about accepting deportees who would be transferred from the United States though not nationals of either country, two government sources in Kinshasa told Reuters. Those discussions were also described to Reuters by three U.N. sources and two diplomats who had been briefed by U.S. officials.
The exchanges highlight a growing U.S. reliance on so-called third-country deportations as a mechanism to accelerate removals of migrants who entered or remain in the United States without authorization. Such arrangements have been carried out quietly in past cases, with limited public disclosure regarding their scope or the terms negotiated between governments.
U.S. officials have previously arranged third-country deportations to several African states. Countries that have received third-country deportees from the United States include Ghana, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Eswatini - moves that have drawn criticism from legal experts and rights organisations. Critics have questioned the legal basis for those transfers and raised concerns about the treatment of deportees sent to countries where they are not nationals.
Human rights and legal advocates have pointed to cases in which migrants were returned to countries of origin despite having court orders in the United States that were intended to prevent such returns. Those concerns have formed part of broader criticism of the third-country deportation practice.
The talks with the DRC have not yet produced a formal agreement, and several important details remain unresolved, the Congolese sources said. It is not yet known when any deportation flights might commence, how many people could be involved, or the nationalities of migrants who might be transferred under a potential arrangement. It also remains unclear whether Congo would receive any specific concessions or benefits in exchange for accepting deportees.
A source at the U.N. International Organization for Migration (IOM) who is familiar with the discussions told Reuters that the possible plan could include migrants from South America, and specifically mentioned Venezuelans among the nationalities that might be involved.
At the same time as the talks over deportations, the reporting notes Washington is engaged in efforts to implement a peace deal between Congo and Rwanda and has negotiated an agreement intended to secure U.S. access to critical minerals from Congo. Those parallel diplomatic efforts were cited in descriptions of the context surrounding the discussions.
A State Department spokesperson declined to provide details, saying the U.S. had "no comment on the details of our diplomatic communications with other governments." A spokesperson for Congo's presidency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Contextual note - The discussions described by multiple sources are at an exploratory stage based on the information available, and the principal facts reported here reflect the current state of talks and the uncertainties that remain.