Original Date Announced

DHS published a July 29, 2025, Asylum Cooperative Agreement between the United States and Uganda, under which Uganda agrees to consider accepting deportees from the United States. The agreement stipulates that the agreement will be in line with international and domestic legal obligations. The United States will not transfer unaccompanied minors, and Uganda agrees not to return deportees to their home countries until final decisions are made regarding any pending protection requests. Both parties will develop procedures for implementation, resolve disputes diplomatically, and may amend, suspend, or terminate the agreement at any time.

Third Country Deportation Watch provides detailed updates on this agreement.

Trump 2.0 [ID #2130]

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.12.20 Reported: Trump Administration Pushes Asylum Seekers to Apply in Other Countries - New York Times

Over the past month, ICE trial attorneys began filing motions in immigration court to pretermit asylum applications and dismiss proceedings on the basis that the government intended to remove non-Ugandan respondents to Uganda on the basis of the agreement described above. According to documents obtained by the New York Times, on December 19, 2025, ICE trial attorneys were instructed that such motions could only be filed for immigrants from most other African countries. As a result, the directive ordered ICE trial attorneys to expeditiously move to withdraw any such motions they previously filed, including in the high-profile case of Chinese asylum seeker Heng Guan.

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2026.03.13 Reported: U.S. pauses tactic to deport asylum-seekers to ‘third countries’ - Seattle Times

The Seattle Times reports that ICE lawyers received a short email directing them to stop filing new motions to pretermit removal proceedings in in immigration court based upon Asylum Cooperative Agreements purporting to allow DHS to send asylum-seekers to third countries to pursue their protection claims. The email states that the lawyers do not need to withdraw previously filed motions but did not provide reasoning for the new instruction or say whether it is temporary.

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2026.04.02 Uganda Law Society - USA-Uganda Dehumanising "Deportation" Agreement Challenged in Court

The Uganda Law Society confirmed the removal of a dozen individuals from the United States to Uganda through the Asylum Cooperative Agreement described above. It reported that a privately owned aircraft carried the deportees and landed at Entebbe International Airport. The Uganda Law Society states that none of the mandated institutions, including the Directorate of Citizenship, the Parliament of Uganda, or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had been engaged in the matter. It further states that it has approached courts in Uganda and the region for relief.