The Trump administration has expelled 21,000 people to places the United States considers too dangerous to visit | US News

By late January, the Trump administration was planning a war in Iran, considering possible airstrikes and arranging aircraft carriers and other military vessels in the region. Around that time, government officials deported 18 people to Iran, the last of them arriving just days before American and Israeli bombs began falling on the country.

The expulsions were the latest in an aggressive campaign to expel Iranians from the United States, the first time in recent history that the U.S. government has done so in large numbers. In the 13 months of Donald Trump’s presidency leading up to the war, the United States deported more than 200 people to Iran, even as the State Department denounced the Iranian government’s human rights abuses and warned American citizens not to travel there “for any reason.”

The U.S. government has expelled more than 21,000 people to countries the State Department deemed too dangerous to travel to, according to a Marshall Project analysis of Immigration and Customs Enforcement data obtained by the Deportation Data Project from Trump’s inauguration through mid-March.

These countries included war zones like Ukraine, countries with unstable and disarrayed governments like Haiti, and brutal dictatorships like Myanmar — places where travelers can face terrorism, wrongful detention, and kidnapping, among other potential dangers. The overwhelming majority of those deported had no criminal convictions. At least 600 were children.

ICE has not responded to repeated questions about how and when it deports people to countries the State Department considers unsafe to visit.

Susan Akram, a law professor at Boston University’s International Human Rights Clinic, called the expulsions “immoral and completely inhumane” and argued that they violated U.S. and international laws.

An armored vehicle patrols the streets of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, May 18, 2026, as part of security measures during National Flag Day celebrations. Photography: Guérinault Louis/Anadolu via Getty Images

U.S. immigration law is complex and sometimes contradictory, but Akram and other legal experts point to international law that prohibits sending anyone seeking asylum to a country where their life or liberty is threatened; the United States passed this law through the bipartisan Refugee Act of 1980. It is unclear from ICE data how many people deported to these countries have filed for asylum. U.S. and international law also states that no one, regardless of immigration status, can be sent to a country where they risk torture.

If the United States violates international law in how it treats foreign nationals, that opens the door for other countries to treat American citizens the same way, Akram said.

Andrew Arthur, a former immigration judge and researcher at the conservative Center for Immigration Studies, said anyone deported to one of those countries would have had multiple opportunities under U.S. law to challenge their deportation. If they were deported, he said, it was either because they didn’t fight their deportation in immigration court or because they requested protection and a “pretty robust due process system” deemed it safe.

Since September, the U.S. government has deported three planeloads of people to Iran, according to Human Rights First, a nonprofit that tracks ICE deportation flights. Passengers on the planes included a Christian convert and a political dissident, both of whom human rights activists said were at risk of persecution in Iran.

The State Department’s travel advisory system currently identifies 23 countries to which U.S. citizens should not travel, although that number fluctuates as countries stabilize, descend into conflict or are hit by natural disasters. The notices clearly state that the system “describes risks and recommended precautions for U.S. citizens – not foreign nationals.”

Venezuela is one of the countries that, for years, the State Department has advised its citizens against visiting. While the U.S. government has listed it as one of the most dangerous countries in the world, the Trump administration has deported more than 18,000 people there, according to Marshall Project data analysis. About 200 of them were not Venezuelan citizens. The State Department recently lowered Venezuela’s status from “do not travel” to “reconsider travel.”

People were deported to Venezuela during the particularly dangerous period, just before and after U.S. raids aimed at overthrowing the government and ousting Nicolas Maduro, the president, and his wife. According to ICE data, in the week before and the week after the invasion, the United States deported more than 100 people there.

Venezuela was not safe before Maduro’s impeachment, and it is not safe today, said Juan Pappier, deputy director for the Americas at Human Rights Watch, a nonprofit that investigates human rights violations.

“There are entire neighborhoods that are controlled by criminal gangs who set the rules and then kill people who don’t follow their orders,” Pappier said. “Globally, there are many cases of blatant hypocrisy on the part of the United States, labeling a country dangerous and sending deportees there at the same time. »

The countries that the State Department has deemed most dangerous also largely overlap with a list of countries whose citizens may be granted temporary protected status. This is a system that Congress created to give foreign nationals a legal way to work and live in the United States when it is unsafe for their country to return.

The Trump administration has attempted to end the temporary protected status of at least nine countries, including Venezuela, Somalia, Haiti and Afghanistan. These places remain dangerous — the State Department’s Haiti page, for example, warns of “kidnapping, crime, terrorist activity, civil unrest, and limited health care.” Removing that protection seems like a pretext to deport more people, said Jennifer Chacón, a professor at Stanford Law School who studies immigration. “This goes against what [temporary protected status] is supposed to do.

More than 1,300 people have been deported by the Trump administration to Haiti and hundreds more to Somalia and Afghanistan.

A billboard depicting Venezuela’s ousted President Nicolás Maduro is seen as members of the Bolivarian National Police take part in a protest by students and relatives of political prisoners in front of the Central University of Venezuela in Caracas, May 13, 2026. Photograph: Federico Parra/AFP/Getty Images

Both Democratic and Republican administrations have chosen to deport immigrants to countries experiencing unrest. During a period of increased migration of Haitians to the United States, the Biden administration expelled tens of thousands of people to Haiti, despite unrest there.

At the time, the State Department issued a “do not travel” warning for Haiti.

Many of the Trump administration’s changes to Temporary Protected Status have been challenged in court and are the subject of litigation.

In hundreds of cases, the Trump administration has expelled people to countries with which it does not have diplomatic relations, including three people who, according to ICE data, were deported to North Korea. In Iran’s case, the expulsions required rare cooperation between the two governments, according to the New York Times.

“This seems like a horrible policy,” said Ryan Costello, policy director at the Iranian American National Council. The United States is denouncing Iran’s authoritarian and repressive regime, he said, “while preparing to send people back to that same government — and then into a war that the United States was going to start.”

Data analysis by Aaron Sankin and Geoff Hing. Additional reporting by Lauren Villagran

*This article was published in partnership with the Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system. Sign up for their newsletters and follow them on Instagram, TikTok, Reddit and Facebook

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos