What changed from 27 October to 5 November 2026

Between 27 October and 5 November 2026, Third Country Deportation Watch added to its pages the first transfers to the Dominican Republic, which began on 17 September; further flights to Panama, Paraguay, Ghana, Cameroon, Liberia and Saint Kitts and Nevis; and new counts for Sierra Leone, Costa Rica and Guatemala. On 23 October a sixth group was sent to Eswatini, and the ICE charter that stopped in Malabo that day went on to Bujumbura and Bangui: ICE Flight Monitor reported that two people, both nationals of Equatorial Guinea, were removed in Malabo, and the monitoring project counts 12 people sent to Burundi and 78 to the Central African Republic, Iranians among them. In Arizona, the government told a federal court that the Egyptian man it had sent to Equatorial Guinea was booked to fly back on 4 November, and at a hearing on 2 November its counsel read into the record a Ninth Circuit order staying an order of the district court of 23 October. Jamaica’s Foreign Minister said that nine of the 22 people sent there had left the island. Human Rights First reported that, according to attorneys, a fourth deportation flight to Iran may follow, and four amicus briefs were filed in the Supreme Court, where the case is set for argument on 9 December 2026. Each item below is dated, linked to its source, and linked to the page on this site for the country or topic.

17 September to 4 November: the first transfers to the Dominican Republic

Third Country Deportation Watch’s page on the Dominican Republic, updated on 27 October, now records: Transfers occurred on September 17, 2026, September 29, 2026 and October 21, 2026. Six third country nationals were removed on October 21, 2026. On 17 September ICE Flight Monitor, the flight-tracking project of Human Rights First, reported that an ICE Air flight from El Paso, with a stop in Miami, has arrived in the Dominican Republic at San Isidro Air Base, suggesting the 1st forced third country transfer there under the U.S.-DR MOU. Human Rights First’s ICE Flight Monitor report for September, published on 19 October, states: In September, there were seven removal flights to the Dominican Republic, two of which removed third country nationals to the San Isidro Air Base in Santo Domingo. On 4 November ICE Flight Monitor wrote that since 17 September it has tracked 5 flights carrying such individuals to the country, that flights carrying people who are not Dominican have landed at San Isidro Air Base and not at Las Américas International Airport, where flights carrying Dominicans land, and that the memorandum of understanding outlines that the Dominican Republic will temporarily host up to 30 third country nationals per month. The monitoring project lists three transfer dates and ICE Flight Monitor counts five flights; the two counts have not been reconciled. Neither gives the nationalities of the people sent, and neither gives their number except for the six of 21 October. On this site: Dominican Republic.

18 September and 9 October: further flights to Panama and Paraguay

Third Country Deportation Watch’s Panama page, updated on 27 October, now states that At least 369 third country nationals have been removed to Panama on 9 flights, and lists eleven dates, three in February 2025 and eight in 2026, the last two 18 September and 9 October; it records that On October 9, nine people were removed. ICE Flight Monitor reported the 9 October flight, from Harlingen, Texas, and wrote that removal flights to Panama have generally been taking place weekly on Fridays. Human Rights First’s September report states that Panama and Paraguay each received ICE Air flights with third country nationals on September 18, and lists a further flight to Panama on 2 October, which the monitoring project does not list. For Paraguay, the monitoring project adds 18 September 2026 to its list of flights, gives no number for it, and keeps its total of at least 77: the numbers it gives for five earlier flights (16, 10, 12, 14 and 25) make 77, and it gives none for 18 July. On this site: Panama and Paraguay.

To 21 October: the count for Costa Rica

Third Country Deportation Watch’s Costa Rica page, updated on 27 October, states that 747 people have been removed to Costa Rica on 28 flights: 200 in February 2025 and, as of October 21, 2026, a total of 547 third-country nationals from 42 countries on 26 flights under the 2026 agreement, among them 52 nationals of Brazil, 107 of China, 52 of Colombia and 137 of Mexico (200 and 547 make 747). It adds: Third party sources confirm at least 28 minors have been sent to Costa Rica under the 2026 MOU. Semanario Universidad reported on 21 October that, according to the statistics of Costa Rica’s migration authority, the Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería, the country had received 502 people from the United States on 24 flights producto de ambos acuerdos (under both agreements); the report gives no cut-off date. The authority’s figure covers both agreements and the monitoring project’s 547 the 2026 agreement alone; the two have not been reconciled. Human Rights First’s September report lists flights to Costa Rica on 1, 8 and 15 October. On this site: Costa Rica.

12 and 13 October: one flight to Sierra Leone, Ghana, Cameroon and Liberia

On 12 October, according to Amnesty International’s Urgent Action of 23 October, ICE removed eight people to Sierra Leone (see this site’s October roundup). Third Country Deportation Watch now records that people were also removed that day to Ghana, Cameroon and Liberia. ICE Flight Monitor followed one ICE Air flight that, after a stop in Senegal, landed in Freetown, then in Accra, Yaoundé and Monrovia; its posts on the first three landings were published on 13 October, and on Monrovia early on 14 October (UTC). The monitoring project dates each of the four transfers 12 October, as Amnesty International does for Sierra Leone; Human Rights First’s September report states that on October 13, ICE Air flights forcibly carried third country nationals, including individuals granted withholding of removal and protections under the Convention Against Torture, to Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cameroon, and Ghana. The date is unresolved. The numbers the monitoring project gives for the four stops are 8, 6, 7 and 16 people, 37 in all.

For Sierra Leone the monitoring project now counts At least 51 people, listing five flight dates (its sentence says four flights), against the at least 45 people on five flights that Amnesty International gave on 23 October. The two agree on the first flight, of 20 May (9 people), and on 12 October (8), and differ on the others: Amnesty gives 13 on 18 June, 10 on 31 July and at least 5 on 29 August, the monitoring project 12, 12 and at least 10. The difference has not been resolved.

For Ghana the monitoring project now gives An estimated 135 third country nationals sent on 9 flights, and lists eleven dates from 5 September 2025, the last two 3 September and 12 October 2026; on 12 October it records six people from Nigeria, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea. ICE Flight Monitor reported on 3 September that a small ICE Air jet had landed in Accra, likely forcibly transferring third country nationals there, and wrote on 27 October: Under the 2nd Trump admin, ICE Flight Monitor has tracked 29 removal flights to Ghana. At least 11 of these have removed third country nationals from the U.S. On 29 October it reported that a 14-seat ICE Air jet from Mesa, Arizona, had made deportation stops in Conakry, Guinea & Accra, Ghana; it did not say whether anyone aboard was a third-country national.

For Cameroon the monitoring project records a sixth flight, with 7 people on 12 October, for A total of 53 third country nationals; Human Rights Watch had counted 46 on the five earlier flights (HRW, To Scare People, p. 38), and 46 and 7 make 53. For Liberia it records 16 third country nationals removed on 12 October, the second transfer there, for 30 in all with the 14 of 20 August. It gives the nationalities of neither group sent on 12 October. On this site: Sierra Leone, Ghana, Cameroon and Liberia.

14 October: a second flight to Saint Kitts and Nevis

On 14 October an ICE Air flight from Alexandria, Louisiana, with a stop in Miami, arrived in Saint Kitts and Nevis at 3:52 pm ET, marking the 2nd forced third country transfer there under this admin, ICE Flight Monitor reported. Third Country Deportation Watch, updated on 27 October, records that flights on 19 May and 14 October removed at least 8 third country nationals: three people from Belize and Jamaica were removed on the May 19 flight, and five people were removed on October 14, 2026. Neither source gives the nationalities of the five. On this site: Saint Kitts and Nevis.

23 and 24 October: the charter that stopped in Malabo went on to Bujumbura and Bangui

On 23 October an ICE charter landed in Malabo, the day after the government had told the court in Arizona that the removal mission to Equatorial Guinea was cancelled, as the court’s order of 27 October records; how many people left it there, and whether it went on to Bujumbura and Bangui, had not then been reported (see this site’s October roundup). On 24 October ICE Flight Monitor wrote: Based on new info, just 2 nationals of Equatorial Guinea were removed when yesterday’s ICE Air flight (B763) stopped in Malabo. Following stops in Burundi & CAR, the flight returned to Senegal & flew within 30 min of Malabo. That matches the sworn ICE declaration of 23 October, which states that the charter stopped in Equatorial Guinea to repatriate two Equatorial Guinean nationals. Flight documents reported by The American Prospect on 21 October had listed 25 people for Equatorial Guinea, 30 for Burundi and 100 for the Central African Republic.

In Bujumbura the aircraft landed at 11:24 pm local time (5:24 pm ET), ICE Flight Monitor reported, adding that the flight marked the 2nd time third country nationals have been removed there from the U.S., following a flight on Aug 27. Third Country Deportation Watch, updated on 27 October, records 24 third country nationals on two flights to Burundi, 12 of them on 23 October, against the 30 listed in the flight documents, and does not give the nationalities of the twelve. The United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants now dates the cancellation of the flight of about 70 people to Burundi, Rwanda and the Central African Republic, which the October roundup reported, to 23 September, after a First Circuit ruling.

In Bangui it landed at 3 am local time (10pm ET), marking the 4th forced third country transfer there, ICE Flight Monitor reported. Third Country Deportation Watch, updated on 26 October, records that nationals of Cuba, Venezuela, Türkiye, Eritrea, Afghanistan, Iran and Nicaragua were among the 78 third country nationals removed to CAR, against the 100 listed in the flight documents, and gives a total of 170 on four flights (its sentence says three). That leaves 92 for the first three flights, the total of the 18, 31 and 43 people Human Rights Watch gives for them (HRW, To Scare People, pp. 42 to 43). The monitoring project does not say how many of the 78 were Iranian. Its overview page now states that flights to the Central African Republic, monthly since June, stopped in September, when a U.S. federal court ruled that such deportations were unlawful, and resumed in October after the Supreme Court issued an emergency stay of the federal court’s ruling.

For Equatorial Guinea the monitoring project now gives A total of 63 third country nationals on seven flights between 24 November 2025 and 20 August 2026. The American Prospect reported on 7 October that At least 63 third-country nationals had been sent on six ICE flights, and Human Rights Watch reported about 65 by September 2026 (HRW, To Scare People, p. 50). On this site: Equatorial Guinea, Burundi, Central African Republic and, for the Iranians, Iran.

23 October: a sixth group sent to Eswatini

The same day a small 14-seat ICE Air jet from Alexandria, Louisiana, carried people to Eswatini after a stop in Senegal, ICE Flight Monitor reported; on X it wrote that the jet had landed in Eswatini, marking the 6th group of third country nationals deported to the country. Third Country Deportation Watch, updated on 27 October, records that On October 23, 2026, 7 people from the Philippines and African nations were removed to Eswatini, for A total of 39 third country nationals on six flights; before this flight its count was 32. On 8 October the acting government spokesperson, Thabile Mdluli, had given Daily Maverick a total of 31 people sent from the United States, and had said: We are not expecting any new TCNs at the moment. On this site: Eswatini.

26 October to 2 November: the court in Arizona and the Egyptian man’s return

In A.M.A.S. v. Mullin, No. 2:26-cv-06601 (D. Ariz.), the case of the Egyptian man the government sent to Equatorial Guinea on 28 April, Judge John C. Hinderaker’s order of 27 October records that parole for his return was approved on 26 October, valid until 11 November 2026, and that eleven steps remained outstanding. The court wrote that each discrete step Defendants have taken has followed, rather than preceded, an order from this Court directing them to address that step, that Nothing in the record reflects any request to the Government of Equatorial Guinea for Plaintiff’s release, and, of the charter of 23 October, that A DHS-contracted aircraft landed in Malabo and departed without Plaintiff. On 28 October an ICE officer declared that his travel had been ticketed for 4 November, by Royal Air Maroc from Malabo through Casablanca to Washington Dulles. In an order of 29 October the court stated that No United States official is reported to have spoken with or seen Plaintiff, set a hearing for 2 November in Tucson, and required government counsel and the ICE officer who had made the government’s declarations to attend in person.

The Embassy in Malabo issued a travel letter on 29 October. On 30 October the United States Ambassador to Equatorial Guinea, Stanley Brown, declared that the Embassy was currently awaiting the Government of Equatorial Guinea’s formal response to its request for that government’s assistance in effectuating this Court’s order but anticipates a positive response to that request in advance of the anticipated travel date of November 4, 2026, and an ICE officer declared, in the same filing, that he will travel to the United States unescorted. The government’s status report of that day stated: Respondents are assured that Petitioner will return to the United States on November 4, 2026. At the hearing on 2 November, the court’s minutes record, counsel for the government said that he was scheduled to be on the flight, and his counsel said that two lawyers from their firm would travel to Casablanca to meet him. The court heard argument on his counsel’s emergency motion to examine the ICE officer and took it under advisement. The United States Attorney for the District of Arizona, Timothy Courchaine, then read into the record an Order from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals staying this Court’s Order dated October 23, 2026, and the minutes record: The Ninth Circuit having stayed the Court’s dispositive Order, the Court adjourns the hearing without any further orders. Whether he travelled on 4 November is still being investigated. On this site: Equatorial Guinea.

27 and 28 October: Jamaica’s Foreign Minister on the first group

At a press conference at Jamaica House on 27 October, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, said that only one of the 22 people who arrived on 13 October had returned to their home country and that another wished to remain in Jamaica, the Gleaner reported; she said that discussions were under way with that person to remind them that the arrangement is intended to facilitate transit, rather than permanent settlement. On 28 October she said that nine of the 22 had left the island, Caribbean National Weekly reported, and she said: Our arrangement does not agree to receive any criminals. They are vetted on the US side and they’re vetted on the Jamaica side before they enter Jamaica, and There are countries which have agreed to receive criminals. They exist. When the United States speaks about sending criminals on the TCN agreements, they send them to those countries. Jamaica is not one of them. The accounts of the group’s nationalities still differ: the Gleaner and Caribbean National Weekly’s report of 29 October give Ecuador and a European country, Caribbean National Weekly’s report of 28 October Latin American countries, including Ecuador and Honduras, and the Jamaica Observer, on 14 October, seven nationalities. The report of 28 October also states: The government has said the United States has not agreed to make the bilateral agreement public. On this site: Jamaica.

27 to 30 October: the Supreme Court docket

The docket of Department of Homeland Security v. D.V.D., No. 26-426, records the entry CIRCULATED. on 27 October and, on 29 October, the receipt of sealed material from the District of Massachusetts: The remainder of the record is electronic and is available on PACER. On 30 October four amicus briefs were filed: by Professor Philip Hamburger and the New Civil Liberties Alliance, in support of neither party, and by Iowa and 20 other States, the Federation for American Immigration Reform and America’s Future, each in support of the petitioners, the government. The docket shows no later entry as of 5 November. The respondents’ brief is due on 16 November, the government’s reply by 2 p.m. on 1 December, and the case is set for argument on Wednesday 9 December 2026. On this site: the Supreme Court stay and The Law.

29 October to 3 November: a possible flight to Iran

On 29 October Human Rights First stated: Reports from attorneys also indicate that the administration may also soon send another deportation flight forcing Iranians back to Iran, the fourth since the start of the Trump administration, and the first since the beginning of the war in February. On 2 November ICE Flight Monitor wrote that the ICE Air flight set to carry out deportations to Afghanistan and Iran, via a removal-transfer stop in Pakistan, will likely take place on a large Eastern Air carrier, and on 3 November that The ICE Air removal flight that was expected to carry Afghans to Pakistan today has been postponed; the post of 3 November does not mention Iranians. ICE Flight Monitor’s posts to 4 November do not report that a flight to Iran has taken place. In Washington, the docket of Iranian American Legal Defense Fund v. Rubio, a challenge to what the plaintiff says is a policy of giving the Iranian government protected information about Iranian asylum seekers, which the government denies, records a sealed ex parte order signed on 27 October, a briefing schedule on 2 November and a sealed document on 3 November. On this site: Iran, and the post of 5 November that sets out the reports on Iran in full, Emails Show ICE Worked With Iran on Three Deportation Flights.

Pages updated after 27 October: Guatemala, the totals, and Guinea-Bissau

Third Country Deportation Watch’s Guatemala page now states: Through the end of August 2026, a total of 3,048 third-country nationals were removed to Guatemala (2,848 Mexicans, 46 Nicaraguans, 88 Hondurans, and 63 Salvadorans.) The four figures add up to 3,045, three fewer than the total, and the page does not explain the difference. It also records that immigration judges have pretermitted the asylum cases of 1,859 people for removal to Guatemala under the asylum cooperative agreement as of the end of August 2026, and that there have been no known transfers to Guatemala under the ACA.

The monitoring project’s overview now gives over 25,000 third country nationals to at least 31 countries as of early September 2026, and the United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, whose tracker now reads Last updated: October 2026, states that over 25,000 people have been deported to at least 30 countries as of October 2026. The overview also now lists Guinea-Bissau, with Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Cabo Verde and Grenada, among at least five other countries with which the administration has agreements where transfers have not yet occurred as far as is publicly known. Senator Tim Kaine’s release of 23 September 2026, announcing resolutions on fifteen countries, Guinea-Bissau among them, refers to reports that the Trump-Vance Administration deported immigrants who are not from those countries to those places. The two sources differ on whether anyone has been sent to Guinea-Bissau, and the matter is unresolved. On this site: Guatemala and The Countries, which sets the overall counts side by side.

Sources

• Dominican Republic: Third Country Deportation Watch, Dominican Republic, updated 27 October 2026; ICE Flight Monitor (Human Rights First), X, 17 September 2026 and Bluesky, 4 November 2026; Human Rights First, ICE Flight Monitor September 2026 Report, 19 October 2026 (PDF).
• Panama and Paraguay: Third Country Deportation Watch, Panama and Paraguay, updated 27 October 2026; ICE Flight Monitor, X, 9 October 2026; Human Rights First, September 2026 report.
• Costa Rica: Third Country Deportation Watch, Costa Rica, updated 27 October 2026; Semanario Universidad, 21 October 2026, Maria Nuñez Chacón; Human Rights First, September 2026 report.
• Sierra Leone, Ghana, Cameroon and Liberia: Third Country Deportation Watch, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Cameroon and Liberia, updated 27 October 2026; ICE Flight Monitor on X, Freetown, Accra and Yaoundé, 13 October 2026, Monrovia, 14 October 2026, and Accra, 3 September 2026; ICE Flight Monitor on Bluesky, 27 October 2026 and 29 October 2026; Amnesty International, AFR 51/1599/2026, 23 October 2026; Human Rights First, September 2026 report; Human Rights Watch, To Scare People, p. 38.
• Saint Kitts and Nevis: ICE Flight Monitor, X, 14 October 2026; Third Country Deportation Watch, St. Kitts and Nevis, updated 27 October 2026.
• Equatorial Guinea, Burundi and the Central African Republic: ICE Flight Monitor, Bluesky, 24 October 2026, and on X, Bujumbura, 23 October 2026 and Bangui, 24 October 2026; A.M.A.S. v. Mullin, No. 2:26-cv-06601 (D. Ariz.), declaration of 23 October 2026, ECF 27-1; The American Prospect, 7 October 2026 and 21 October 2026; Third Country Deportation Watch, Equatorial Guinea and Burundi, updated 27 October 2026, Central African Republic, updated 26 October 2026, and Overview; United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, Third Country Deportations Tracker, October 2026; Human Rights Watch, To Scare People, pp. 42 to 43 and 50.
• Eswatini: ICE Flight Monitor, Bluesky, 23 October 2026 and X, 23 October 2026; Third Country Deportation Watch, Eswatini, updated 27 October 2026; Daily Maverick, 8 October 2026, Peter Fabricius.
• Equatorial Guinea, the court in Arizona: A.M.A.S. v. Mullin, No. 2:26-cv-06601 (D. Ariz.), order of 27 October 2026, ECF 29; ICE declaration of 28 October 2026, ECF 34-1; order of 29 October 2026, ECF 37; status update of 30 October 2026, ECF 43 and declarations, ECF 43-1; minutes of 2 November 2026, ECF 47.
• Jamaica: Jamaica Gleaner, 27 October 2026, Sashana Small; Caribbean National Weekly, 28 October 2026 and 29 October 2026, Jovani Davis; Jamaica Observer, 14 October 2026, Jamaica Observer.
• Supreme Court of the United States, No. 26-426: docket; amicus briefs of 30 October 2026 by Professor Philip Hamburger and the New Civil Liberties Alliance, Iowa and 20 other States, the Federation for American Immigration Reform and America’s Future.
• Iran: Human Rights First, press release, 29 October 2026; ICE Flight Monitor, Bluesky, 2 November 2026 and Bluesky, 3 November 2026; Iranian American Legal Defense Fund v. Rubio, No. 1:26-cv-02375 (D.D.C.), docket (also at the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse).
• Guatemala and the totals: Third Country Deportation Watch, Guatemala and Overview; United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, Third Country Deportations Tracker, October 2026; Senator Tim Kaine, press release, 23 September 2026.