U.S. immigration officials may deport migrants to countries other than their home nations with as little as six hours’ notice, according to a newly disclosed memo from a top official at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

In the memo dated Wednesday, July 9, Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons stated that the agency will generally provide at least 24 hours’ notice before deporting someone to a so-called “third country.”

However, in “exigent circumstances,” the memo allows for deportations to proceed with as little as six hours’ notice, provided the individual has had an opportunity to consult with an attorney.

The policy permits deportations to countries that have formally pledged not to persecute or torture the deportee, allowing such transfers to take place “without the need for further procedures.”

The new ICE guidance suggests that President Donald Trump’s administration was positioning itself to accelerate deportations globally, especially as Trump sought to significantly ramp up immigration enforcement during the 2025 campaign season.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a lower court’s injunction that had previously limited third-country deportations unless the individual received a screening for fear of persecution in the destination country.

Following the high court’s decision and a subsequent ruling by the justices, the administration deported eight migrants, from Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar, Sudan, and Vietnam, to South Sudan.

More recently, the Trump administration reportedly pressured officials from five African nations, Liberia, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, and Gabon, to accept deportees from third countries.

The Washington Post first reported on the new ICE policy memo.

Administration officials argue that third-country deportations offer a tool for swiftly removing individuals who, in their view, have no legal basis to remain in the United States, including those with criminal convictions.

However, immigrant rights advocates have condemned the policy as dangerous and inhumane, warning that migrants could be sent to unfamiliar countries where they face violence, lack familial or community ties, and do not speak the language.

“This policy falls far short of providing the statutory and due process protections that the law requires,” said Trina Realmuto, an attorney with the National Immigration Litigation Alliance, which is representing a group of migrants in a class-action lawsuit challenging the legality of rapid third-country deportations.

Although third-country deportations had occurred in limited cases before, the memo indicated they might become a much more frequent tool under a renewed Trump administration push to achieve record-level removals.

During Trump’s previous term (2017–2021), small numbers of migrants from El Salvador and Honduras were deported to Guatemala under similar arrangements.

By contrast, President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration pursued a deal with Mexico to accept tens of thousands of migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, countries to which direct deportation was logistically or diplomatically difficult.

The new ICE memo has been submitted as evidence in an ongoing lawsuit concerning the wrongful deportation of Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador. (Reuters/NAN)