Kathmandu— Six Cuban and Afghan immigrants deported from the United States under the Trump administration have arrived in Guyana, marking the latest in a series of third-country deportations aimed at expanding the scope of the program. Guyana’s Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud announced the arrivals, stating that the deal with the U.S. will last for one year and does not constitute permanent resettlement.

Third-Country Deportations Program

Third-country deportations involve sending foreign nationals to places outside of their country of origin. Deportees often have no familiarity with the country they are sent to and sometimes do not even speak the language. The Trump administration has struck agreements with a range of countries around the world, including several as far afield as Africa. Some of the deals have involved multimillion-dollar payments. Trump officials have justified the effort by arguing that some countries, such as Cuba, refuse to accept deportees from the U.S. Rights groups, however, have denounced the practice as an effort to punish migrants and pressure them into giving up their immigration claims in the U.S.

Deportees’ Background and Conditions

The six deportees sent to Guyana on Saturday have no criminal background, reflecting the expanding scope of Trump’s deportation efforts during his second term. The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University estimates that 70.6 percent of foreign nationals currently in U.S. immigration detention have no criminal conviction. Third-country deportations have also raised concerns about conditions in the countries non-citizens are sent to. Some countries struggle with poverty, instability, and conflict, as well as human rights abuses. The deportees sent to Guyana will receive resources through the Assisted Voluntary Return Programme, run by the United Nations International Organisation for Migration (IOM). Under the arrangement, those deported will await the outcome of their immigration process in Guyana. They could return to their countries of origin or seek relocation elsewhere.

Efforts to restrict immigration, deport foreign nationals, and crack down on civil immigration infractions have become a hallmark of Trump’s second term. As part of that campaign, the Trump administration has stripped tens of thousands of migrants in the country of their legal status, through the cancellation of programmes like Temporary Protected Status or humanitarian parole. Reports have also emerged that the administration plans to strip visas from roughly 200,000 people seeking asylum. The removal of their legal immigration status exposes foreign nationals to the risk of deportation, in some cases despite ongoing conflicts or unstable conditions in their destination countries.

(With inputs from Al Jazeera)

Originally published on abcnews.com.np.