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Trump’s special strategy to deport illegals gives him another tool for enforcement
By Chad Mizelle
Published October 01, 2026
What should the president of the United States do with an illegal alien rapist or murderer who cannot be deported to his home country? Should he release him inside the United States or deport him to somewhere else?
For President Donald Trump, the choice is clear. Over the last year he has been using a bold new strategy to send criminal aliens out of our country and keep our country safe.
Under international law, illegal aliens cannot be sent anywhere they would face persecution on the basis of their race, religion, nationality, political beliefs or membership in a particular social group. In addition, many countries don’t want us to return their criminals to them. Others don’t have diplomatic relations with the United States.
LIBERIA AGREES TO ACCEPT 1,200 THIRD-COUNTRY DEPORTEES FROM US WITHIN A YEAR
Before Trump, most presidents usually released illegal aliens in these circumstances into the United States. But under the Trump administration, this has finally changed. Advocacy groups estimate that the second Trump administration has now deported some 25,000 illegal aliens to countries other than their own, which is unprecedented. This is the result of incredible work by the Department of Homeland Security and some 30 international agreements brokered by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
8 criminal illegal aliens were deported to South Sudan on Independence Day, according to a release from the Department of Homeland Security. (U.S. Department of Homeland Security)
The left has responded, as usual, with a barrage of well-funded lawfare and judicial activism intended to halt the president’s agenda or at least delay it.
FEDERAL APPEALS COURT DEALS BLOW TO TRUMP DEPORTATION AGENDA
Shortly after the president returned to office, the Trump administration attempted to send a group of criminal illegal aliens to South Sudan. The ACLU, the National Immigration Litigation Alliance and the American Immigration Council immediately intervened and filed a class-action lawsuit to stop third-country removals.
Bear in mind that these criminals had been convicted of crimes including murder, arson, armed robbery, kidnapping, sexual assault of a mentally handicapped woman and child rape — but the left wanted them to stay in this country.
VENEZUELANS, CUBANS, COLOMBIANS ARRIVE IN AFRICAN NATION UNDER TRUMP DEPORTATION DEAL
Ultimately, the ACLU burned months of the government’s time in court, but the Trump administration successfully completed the deportations, and, in fact, doubled down. Just weeks later, the Trump administration deported another group of criminals to Eswatini, formerly Swaziland. These criminals included a Vietnamese child rapist, a Jamaican murderer, a Laotian murderer, a Yemeni murderer and a Cuban murderer and attempted cop killer.
As the courts reaffirmed, immigration law allows deportation to a third country when deportation to the home country is "impracticable, inadvisable" or even just "inadvisable." This broad phrasing gives Trump a rock-solid legal authorization to use third-country deportations to accelerate the mass deportation agenda that the American people voted for.
Case law limits the time that the government can detain an illegal alien, with up to six months being held "presumptively reasonable" by the Supreme Court. This short window of time often forces the government’s hand. In many cases, the Trump administration then has to deport an illegal alien to a third country rather than, say, charter a private jet for him back to his homeland.
This new tool is already proving effective, and it may even serve as a deterrent for illegal immigration: If you don’t want a ticket to South Sudan, then don’t come here illegally.
The courts are still considering the question of how much notice the Trump administration must give the illegal aliens before deporting them to a third country. A Biden-appointed judge in Massachusetts held that the illegal aliens have rights under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) — a 1946 law which governs the process of issuing government regulations — and another Biden-appointed appeals judge upheld it.
Bear in mind that these criminals had been convicted of crimes including murder, arson, armed robbery, kidnapping, sexual assault of a mentally handicapped woman and child rape — but the left wanted them to stay in this country.
Applying the APA to illegal alien murderers is absurd, but both judges affirmed the legality of third-country removals as a tool in the president’s toolbox. The Supreme Court has allowed the government to continue deportations to third countries, but arguments are scheduled for December.
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Third country removal is yet another example of President Trump using tools that were always available but almost never used. As the President has often said, America didn’t need new immigration laws to end the border crisis—we just needed the right President.
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The American people voted for mass deportations, and the Trump Administration is delivering.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM CHAD R. MIZELLE
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/trumps-special-strategy-deport-illegals-gives-him-another-tool-enforcement