Rwanda Discussing With Trump Admin Accepting Third-Country Deportees: 'The Talks Are Ongoing'

The central African nation of Rwanda is in early discussions with the Trump administration to accept deported migrants from the United States, potentially making it the first African nation to reach such an agreement.

Rwanda's foreign minister, Olivier J.P. Nduhungirehe made the announcement late Sunday on a state broadcaster, Rwanda TV. He said the country's government was in "early stage" talks about receiving third-country deportees from the U.S.

The news followed multiple news reports that the U.S. was seeking an international partnership to deport migrants amid an ongoing crackdown.

"We are in discussions with the United States," Nduhungirehe said in the interview, which was reported by Reuters. "It has not yet reached a stage where we can say exactly how things will proceed, but the talks are ongoing... still in the early stages."

Rwanda has long positioned itself as a potential partner to Western nations seeking to curb migration, offering to provide asylum to migrants or house them as they await resettlement elsewhere, sometimes in return for payment. But critics say that sending asylum seekers to Rwanda is unsafe, citing the country's poor record on human rights, limited resources, and the authorities' previous intimidation and surveillance of migrants and refugees.

Most notably, Rwanda struck a deal with Britain in 2022 to accept some asylum seekers for their claims to be processed— but it sparked humanitarian concerns and it was eventually shelved.

The nation also hosts hundreds of African refugees rescued from Libya and awaiting resettlement elsewhere in a joint partnership with the United Nations refugee agency. It has also signed a deal with Denmark to improve cooperation on asylum and migration, and it entered into a secretive partnership with Israel to receive deported African migrants, The New York Times reports

The State Department did not immediately provide comments on the Rwandan politician's declarations.

If a deal is eventually reached, it would come at a time when the Trump administration is stretching out its powers to swiftly deport undocumented migrants. Since his return to office, President Trump has invoked a wartime law, the Alien Enemies Act to quickly oust Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador. As those efforts have ramped up, several courts have halted deportations, especially after a Supreme Court ruling determining that those targeted should be given enough time to challenge the decision.

The Trump administration has also been asking countries to take back their citizens if they are deported from the United States and taking punitive measures against those nations if they do not. In early April, Secretary of State Marco Rubio revoked visas for all South Sudanese nationals amid a dispute over the East African country's failure to accept its deported citizens.

Interestingly, the president also told NBC News' "Meet the Press" on Sunday that he didn't know whether he needed to uphold the U.S. Constitution in pursuing his goal of deporting what he called "some of the worst people on Earth."