Trump admin allocated $40 million to deport 300 migrants, Democrats call it ‘costly, wasteful and poorly monitored’

The Trump administration allocated at least $40 million to deport approximately 300 migrants to countries other than their own. Over the past year, immigration officials increased this practice to help achieve President Donald Trump's goal of swiftly removing immigrants from the US, according to AP reported citing the Democratic staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee report.

The Democrats on the Foreign Relations committee, led by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, criticised “third-country deportations” as "costly, wasteful, and poorly monitored" in the report and called for "serious scrutiny of a policy that now largely operates in the dark."

"We've arrested people that are members of gangs and we've deported them. We don't want gang members in our country," Secretary of State Marco Rubio responded when asked about some of the third country deportations at a Senate hearing last month.

In March of last year, El Salvador received approximately 250 Venezuelan nationals, whereas other countries received significantly fewer deportees, ranging from 29 sent to Equatorial Guinea to none sent to Palau so far, the report said.

The countries examined in the report are only a small part of the Trump administration's wider efforts to deport migrants to third countries. According to internal administration documents reviewed by AP, there are 47 agreements with third countries at various stages of negotiation. Of these, 15 have been finalised, and 10 are near completion.

There are 17 agreements at various stages of negotiation, including 9 that have formally come into effect, although the administration claims the agreements do not necessarily need to be concluded for people to be sent there.

Immigration advocacy groups have criticised the "third country" policy as a reckless tactic that breaches due process rights and can leave deportees stranded in countries with long histories of human rights violations corruption.

During a visit to South Sudan, Democratic committee staff discovered a gated house guarded by armed personnel where deportees were detained, including migrants from Vietnam and Mexico.

The Democrats also mainly focus on the policy's wastefulness and lack of effectiveness. It highlights several cases where migrants are deported to a third country, only for the US to later cover the cost of another flight to send the migrant back to their home country.

"In many cases, migrants could have been returned directly to their countries of origin, avoiding unnecessary flights and additional costs," the report quoted Shaheen's statement, also signed by Democratic Sens. Chris Coons, Tammy Duckworth, Tim Kaine, Jack Rosen and Chris Van Hollen.

It remains uncertain about the benefits the countries may gain or expect in return for accepting third-country nationals.

Following an agreement last year, South Sudan submitted a list of requests to Washington, which included American support for prosecuting an opposition leader and lifting sanctions on a senior official accused of diverting over a billion dollars in public funds, the report quoted diplomatic communications made public by the State Department in January.

Shaheen has also questioned a $7.5 million payment sent to Equatorial Guinea that coincided with the Trump administration's efforts to develop ties with the country's vice president, Teodoro "Teddy" Nguema Obiang. He is accused of corruption for a lavish lifestyle that has attracted the attention of prosecutors in several countries.