An Iranian woman's journey

Nika, a thirty two year old Iranian woman who fled Iran eighteen months earlier after protesting its regime, was deported from the US to Central African Republic on a plane where officers would not tell detainees their destination.

“They never told me they were going to deport me [to] this country. I don't know anything about Africa.”

A judge's order overturned

After more than a year in US immigration detention, Nika was granted legal protections and freed on a judge's orders. Within two weeks, the Department of Homeland Security rearrested her and deported her to Central African Republic.

The scale of the policy

More than twenty five thousand people have been deported by the Trump administration to countries that are not their own. About twenty thousand have been bussed to Mexico, and more than five thousand others sent to countries in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and central Asia.

A joint investigation

The Guardian joined twenty three other media organisations in the Deportation Project to compile the most comprehensive account of the policy. The consortium tracked more than one hundred flights carrying migrants to twenty eight different countries.

Flights are accelerating

The pace of deportation flights is increasing. In August, a record sixteen flights carried people to thirteen different countries that were not their own, according to a count by Human Rights First.

A court ruling against the policy

A US federal appeals court ruled on Friday that third country removals were unlawful, arguing they violated due process because people are not notified with enough time to mount a legal challenge. The government is expected to appeal.

The administration's response

A state department spokesperson said implementing Trump's immigration policies was a top priority and the US government will use all legal means to remove those with no right to remain in the country.

“we are unwavering in our commitment to end illegal and mass immigration and bolster America's border security”

Who is being deported

The people forced on to planes include those who spent most of their lives in the US, parents detained on the school run, and adult children of elderly relatives who depend on them for care. Many had been granted legal protections barring their removal.

Stephen Miller leads the drive

The deportation drive is being led by Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, who has been open about his desire to end most migration to the US. He has pushed key appointments inside the state department to overrule other foreign policy objectives.

Money pledged for agreements

Internal records show the Trump administration has pledged at least four hundred ten million dollars to secure third country deportation agreements with thirty five different countries, almost a third of them in Africa.

Cameroon and the DRC deals

Thirty million dollars was earmarked for Cameroon to support UN operations in return for accepting one thousand migrants. The US has sent only forty four. The DRC was promised seventy five million dollars for accepting two thousand migrants. It has received only fifteen.

Rabbiatu Kuyateh's story

Rabbiatu Kuyateh, fifty eight, a nurse who spent most of her life in the US caring for her elderly parents, was deported to Ghana and then forcibly removed to Sierra Leone, her childhood homeland, in November.

Nika arrives in Bangui

On eleven June, Nika's flight landed in Bangui at nine forty five pm. For several hours the group did not meet anyone who spoke English. They were given yellow fever vaccinations and Nika was told she could stay for three months.

Nika contracts malaria

Nika developed a headache and felt sick. A medical report confirmed she had malaria. She was bitten by so many mosquitoes her skin looked bruised. She had been deported without her passport, leaving her without identification or visa.

“I didn't even know what that was.”

The IOM's role

CAR is one of thirteen host countries where the deported are supported by the International Organization for Migration, a UN agency providing food, lodgings and psychological counsel. More than sixty percent of US grants to the IOM during the second Trump administration have gone to programmes in countries that accept deported migrants.

Humanitarian funding redirected

In March last year, the state department said humanitarian funding would be used to reduce mass and illegal immigration, including funding voluntary returns and incentivising governments to implement safe third country agreements. In CAR, the US allocated eighty five million dollars to the IOM.

Life after deportation

People returned from third countries to their birthplaces describe a life lived in the shadows. Kuyateh left Sierra Leone within days of being sent back. Annan, a gay man deported to Ghana, was forcibly removed and now lives in an abandoned building with no electricity or running water.

“I don't sleep at night. Sometimes I just wake up. I'll be sitting down like, what am I doing here? Why am I here?”

Immigration lawyers overwhelmed

Immigration lawyers say the scale of efforts to obstruct those opposing the Trump administration's drive to quash irregular migration is unprecedented. Avenues of accountability have been shut, including the office of an independent ombudsman for immigration detention.

The cost of resistance

Sahar Jalili, Nika's lawyer, watched her client deported despite fighting to save her. Jalili begged ICE officers for two days to mount a legal challenge. They responded that they had respected the judge's order to release her but had never promised not to send her to a third country.

“They told me that they had respected the judge's order to release her. But they'd never promised not to send her to a third country.”