KIGALI, Rwanda — The United States and Rwanda have reached an agreement that will allow the African nation to receive up to 250 migrants deported from American soil, Rwandan officials confirmed on Monday, August 4, 2025.
The deal, signed in Kigali in June, is part of the Trump administration’s broader push to expand third-country deportations as a means of tightening immigration enforcement.
According to Yolande Makolo, spokesperson for the Rwandan government, the agreement reflects the country’s long-standing ethos of rehabilitation and reintegration.
“Rwanda has agreed with the United States to accept up to 250 migrants, in part because nearly every Rwandan family has experienced the hardships of displacement,” Makolo said in a statement.
“Those approved will be provided with workforce training, healthcare, and accommodation support to jumpstart their lives in Rwanda.”
The migrants will be vetted by the Rwandan authorities on a case-by-case basis, and only those without pending criminal cases or completed prison terms will be eligible.
Kigali will not accept child sex offenders, and there is no arrangement to allow deportees to serve U.S. sentences in Rwanda.
The deal, first reported by Reuters, marks the latest step in Washington’s efforts to relocate migrants — including convicted criminals — to third countries.
The Trump administration has deported Venezuelans to El Salvador, proposed removals to South Sudan, and now formalised a grant-supported framework with Rwanda. Details of the U.S. grant remain undisclosed.
While the White House and State Department declined to comment, officials in Kigali confirmed that Washington has already submitted a list of 10 individuals for consideration.
The agreement allows for an extension beyond 250 deportees with mutual consent, and those relocated to Rwanda will not be obligated to remain in the country permanently.
President Donald Trump has long advocated for harsher immigration measures.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a ruling permitting deportations to third countries without requiring proof that deportees would face harm — a decision now being challenged in federal court in Boston.
Immigration advocates and rights groups have condemned the policy as dangerous and inhumane, citing concerns that many deportees may face violence or alienation in unfamiliar countries.
“Sending people to nations where they have no ties and may not speak the language amounts to abandonment,” said one U.S.-based immigration rights attorney.
Despite ongoing criticisms, the Trump administration argues that such third-country deals are critical to public safety and immigration deterrence.
Officials maintain that individuals with criminal histories who cannot be deported directly to their home countries pose a risk and must be removed.
Rwanda has positioned itself as a willing partner for Western countries seeking deportation destinations.
In 2022, it entered a controversial agreement with the United Kingdom to resettle asylum seekers, though no migrants were relocated before the plan was cancelled by newly elected Prime Minister Keir Starmer in 2024.
Rwanda has been lauded by some world leaders for its economic progress under President Paul Kagame.
However, rights organisations continue to accuse the Kagame government of suppressing dissent and supporting armed groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo — charges Kigali denies.
