The United States has deported 131 Central Asian migrants — including nationals from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan — as part of a coordinated agreement between Washington and Tashkent, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Wednesday.
The group was flown out of the US on Wednesday, according to the DHS, in what marks one of the latest examples of the Biden-to-Trump administration transition in immigration enforcement priorities. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem praised the move as a step toward closer cooperation with Uzbekistan.
“We look forward to continuing to work together with Uzbekistan on efforts to enhance our mutual security and uphold the rule of law,” Noem said in a statement.
The deportations come amid renewed momentum behind former President Donald Trump’s pledge to remove millions of undocumented immigrants from the United States. His administration has expanded deportation routes, including new third-country arrangements in the Western Hemisphere. In a recent case, a man from Iraq was deported to Rwanda.
Trump’s policies have sparked backlash from Democrats and migrant rights groups, who argue that the aggressive removals risk trampling due process and breaking apart families. One controversial case involved a Cuban mother who claimed she was deported without her breastfeeding infant daughter.
Despite the rhetoric, Trump’s deportation figures so far remain lower than the numbers recorded last year under his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden, when a surge in illegal border crossings led to a sharp rise in expedited removals.
Neither the White House nor Uzbekistan’s embassy in Washington provided immediate comment on the deportation agreement.
Melissa Enoch
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