Trump Administration Negotiates Deal to Deport Iranians to Central African Republic

Summary

A deportation flight carrying roughly 20 Iranian nationals could leave for the Central African Republic as early as Thursday, under a third-country removal deal the Trump administration has been quietly negotiating. The Central African Republic is one of the world's most fragile states, ranked among the lowest on the UN Human Development Index and locked in a decade-plus civil conflict that has displaced hundreds of thousands of people. Sending deportees there rather than to Iran is a notable legal and diplomatic wrinkle: Iran does not accept deportation flights from the United States, which has made removing Iranian nationals a persistent problem for multiple administrations. The third-country arrangement sidesteps that obstacle, though it immediately raises questions about whether deportees face danger upon arrival in a war-affected country they have no connection to. What the Central African Republic received in exchange for accepting the deal has not been disclosed. The move fits a broader pattern in Trump's second term of using unconventional bilateral agreements, including earlier deals with El Salvador and Rwanda, to route migrants away from the U.S. Asylum system entirely. Immigration lawyers are expected to challenge any flights in federal court, citing the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits sending people to countries where they face serious risk of harm.