Banished to alien lands – Trump’s secret deportation deals | First Thing

Thousands of people deported from the US to countries where they have no connections.

Plus, European spy chiefs warn of Moscow action against Nato Good morning.

After a plane journey in shackles, an Iranian woman found herself in the middle of Africa in a country she did not know existed.

She is one of thousands of people deported from the US on the back of shadowy deals made with dozens of countries.

At what scale are third-country deportations happening? Since returning to office in 2025, Donald Trump’s administration has deported more than 25,000 people to countries that are not their own.

Which countries are people being deported to? The Trump administration has struck 35 deals allowing it to deport migrants and asylum seekers to countries where they often have no connections.

Is this legal? A US federal appeals court ruled on Friday that the Trump administration’s third-country removals policy was unlawful.

A three-judge panel unanimously agreed that it violated due process.

But the government has 90 days to appeal against the court’s decision, and is expected to do so.

How imminent is the threat? “Normunds Mežviets, the director general of the VDD, Latvia’s state security service conceded there were signs that Moscow was making preparations for more decisive action in Europe, but said it was not clear whether the plans were simply part of a destabilisation strategy.

“It’s still an open question if they have direct and concrete plans or if it’s just within the context of their overall attempts to spread fear and uncertainty in western society,” he said.

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