Stop Deportations to Countries Where People Have No Meaningful Connection

As your constituent, I urge you to support legislation banning the administration’s practice of removing migrants to “third countries” - countries with which they have no meaningful connection. It can put a person on a plane to a country where he or she has no home, family, or support. Someone whom U.S. law protects from return to a dangerous homeland may instead be sent into danger in a third country. Congress should not permit this end run around the law. Ahmed Soliman, an Egyptian man who had lived for years in Phoenix, was found by an immigration judge to face persecution and torture if returned to Egypt. Instead, he was sent to Equatorial Guinea in Central Africa, where he had no ties or legal status and was reportedly beaten in detention. PEOPLE MUST NOT BE SENT INTO DANGER WITHOUT A FAIR HEARING Section 241 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1231, allows removal to another country in limited circumstances. The administration has used that authority to send more than 25,000 migrants to third countries, according to reports. On September 18, 2026, the First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that this procedure denied effective notice and a chance to raise persecution or torture claims. The administration asked the Supreme Court to allow the procedure to resume. Diplomatic assurances alone cannot replace notice and a meaningful chance to challenge removal. Without a known destination and enough notice, attorneys and courts may be unable to protect someone before departure. An administration could evade legal protections by changing the country named on the plane. CONGRESS SHOULD BAN INVOLUNTARY THIRD-COUNTRY REMOVALS Congress can protect public safety and enforce final removal orders without sending people into danger without notice or a fair opportunity to object. I urge you to take these actions: (1) INTRODUCE AND SUPPORT legislation amending 8 U.S.C. § 1231 to prohibit involuntary removal to a country where the person is not a citizen or national, does not lawfully reside, has not previously resided, and has no immediate family. The ban covers later additions, indirect transfers, and foreign intermediaries. Permit removal only with the person’s informed written consent after access to counsel. (2) CODIFY DUE-PROCESS PROTECTIONS for any allowed exception: written notice in an understandable language, access to counsel, an immigration-judge hearing, opportunity to raise persecution or Convention Against Torture concerns, judicial review, and an automatic stay. (3) PROHIBIT FEDERAL FUNDING for any involuntary third-country removal, including transportation, detention, payments, and contracts, and require disclosure and congressional review of every related foreign agreement. (4) HOLD OVERSIGHT HEARINGS AND REQUIRE THE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE AND INSPECTORS GENERAL TO INVESTIGATE removals, countries, costs, assurances, detention conditions, abuse, injuries, deaths, and onward transfers. Thank you.

First sent on September 25 by Bill