# Deportation: What if no country agrees to take them? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [November 11, 2024, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deportation-what-if-no-country-agrees-to-take-them/1010097 "2024-11-11T21:25:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deportation-what-if-no-country-agrees-to-take-them/1010097/25 "2024-11-12T17:30:16Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > If so, I think we need to keep looking for an actual authoritative source. Okay, that might be me. I used to run a detainment center. Sort of. This was back before Trump was in office so illegal immigrants were still just a problem rather than a crisis. But the federal government didn’t have enough detention centers for the amount of illegal immigrants it was detaining while they worked through the deportation center. So they subcontracted detention space inside prisons. One of which was mine. So we would segregate a unit off from the rest of general population that held about a hundred prisoners. And ICE would bring illegal immigrants in and we’d put them into the cells. They would then get pretty much the same treatment that regular prisoners would get. Until ICE made arrangements for their deportation and picked them up. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deportation-what-if-no-country-agrees-to-take-them/1010097/26 "2024-11-12T17:37:28Z")
In Trump’s last term, countries that refused to accept their citizens who were being deported had their visa rights terminated. No business, student, visitor or diplomatic visas. Countries quickly came into compliance. One of the few instances of my agreement with the Dumpster. The legal/illegal aliens being deported had been convicted of serious crimes and served their time. Don’t make me defend this deviant again. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deportation-what-if-no-country-agrees-to-take-them/1010097/27 "2024-11-12T17:43:19Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > "at some point of the whole system getting so backlogged… " - that is the problem already. Many of the 30,000-plus a month that were coming in have a court date already - 5 or 6 years from now. Any restrictions on whether they can work are window dressing. Presumably general roundup and deportation will be the result of a major change in the rules allowing for a faster, streamlined and more focussed refugee determination with stricter criteria - assuming the congress and senate and supreme court are willing to be be persuaded to endorse what the administration comes up with. This is Trump’s second time with a full Republican government. The only laws that he ever tried to propose and pass, to my awareness, were: 1. (Kushner) Reduce prison sentences and boost spending for addiction programs in jail. 2. (Kushner) US worker protectionism built into an otherwise unchanged NAFTA. 3. (?) Healthcare price transparency Two of those are, effectively, Liberal, left-wing law and I believe were passed after Trump lost the Republican Congress. The best predictor of future performance is past performance. It’s not a guarantee, but I’d not be hopeful that he has any plans for reform nor building out infrastructure, nor hiring up - all of which he failed to do last time. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deportation-what-if-no-country-agrees-to-take-them/1010097/28 "2024-11-12T17:46:12Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > If so, I think we need to keep looking for an actual authoritative source. So we turn to our authoratative source, _Law and Order_. several episodes back a decade or more ago dealt with ICE taking people into custody to deport them. At the time, whether you came to the attention of ICE depended on a number of things, but then a person was detained until they were deported. What stopped a lot of this was the realization that some of these undocumented workers were hard to replace. IIRC one item in the news was when ICE was raiding a meat-packing plant in South Dakota, and preumably the company went through their senators and congress to get ICE to back off, since there were no local South Dakotans willing to work there for that wage. > [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > something will kick in to officially forgive them so as to clear out the backlog, meaning that you will have effectively converted them all from illegal to legal immigrants. This was always the sticking point, even back as far as Clinton - the proposals that included some form of amnesty or path to citizenship were a non-starter for one political party. Deporting people who had been in the USA for a decade or more, and built a life there, was not considered humane by the other party. It seems they finally hashed out these issues to a compromise last year. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deportation-what-if-no-country-agrees-to-take-them/1010097/29 "2024-11-12T17:54:29Z")
I’m trying to find a cite, but there was a time in the 2010’s (?) when Cuba was refusing to take deportees. The unfortunate individuals were confined to detention facilities. But recently Cuba reversed its policy and is accepting its citizens. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deportation-what-if-no-country-agrees-to-take-them/1010097/30 "2024-11-12T18:00:12Z")
This article seems to support the notion that recalcitrance on the part of the origin country (where the deportees came to the US _from_) requires detention or release on the part of the US: [**‘Recalcitrant’ and ‘Uncooperative’: Why Some Countries Refuse to Accept Return of Their Deportees**](https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/recalcitrant-uncooperative-countries-refuse-deportation) > For policymakers, the ultimate question is therefore bewilderingly complex: Why is the return rate to a specific origin state low? Flawed presumptions can lead to costly overreactions. It is therefore not straightforward for destination countries to know how much political capital to invest in carrying out removals. Yet declining to enforce a deportation likely means detaining someone for months, demanding huge administrative resources, or releasing them, which comes with a domestic political cost. It also generates concerns over public safety when noncitizens—some with criminal convictions—become effectively undeportable. What punitive measures can we take against ‘recalcitrant’ nations? > The United States has long taken an assertive approach. As of mid-2020, it considered 13 countries and territories recalcitrant: Bhutan, Burundi, Cambodia, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Iraq, Laos, Pakistan, and Russia. Several more were publicly identified as being at risk of the classification (see Figure 2). Varying degrees of visa sanctions were as of this writing in effect for eight countries: Cambodia, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Laos, Myanmar, Pakistan, and Sierra Leone. In previous years, the United States has imposed visa penalties against Burundi, Ethiopia, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, and Guyana. The fact that some countries have moved off the sanctions list could be read as indication of at least partial success of the pressure campaign. [Click on the map for a more legible view] [![](https://www.migrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/source_images/fe-2022-deportation-fig2-map3.png) ](https://www.migrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/source_images/fe-2022-deportation-fig2-map3.png) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deportation-what-if-no-country-agrees-to-take-them/1010097/31 "2024-11-12T18:08:52Z")
The best predictor of future performance is past performance…if you totally ignore everything that happened between then and now and assume that people and their attitudes haven’t changed one bit. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deportation-what-if-no-country-agrees-to-take-them/1010097/32 "2024-11-12T18:19:18Z")
Just to note, I’m relatively ambivalent about immigration policing. Breaking the law is breaking the law. Punishing people for that is completely above-board and reasonable. The laws were all set by agreement of both parties. That said, trashing the economy in that aim is stupid and especially if it means that we all starve or have to pay double to import food because we can’t harvest and need to throw away what we grew here. Trump is likely failing to pass or seek out effective initiatives for substantive reasons. But, by hiring people who _are_ serious about immigration enforcement and believe that he’s serious, he’s now got a band of enforcement officers who are willing to go around and bully arbitrary businesses who might be employing people illegally. For someone like Trump, that basically turns the whole thing into a protection racket. You don’t want to have your farm/hotel/kitchen/construction site raided? Take a visit to Mar-a-Lago and buy Trump Brand’s new $50k bottle of fine wine and a $200k painting by Barron. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deportation-what-if-no-country-agrees-to-take-them/1010097/33 "2024-11-12T18:28:58Z")
Trump has more than once floated the idea that if elected, he might wage war on Mexico. I’m not sure what the military objective would even be unless he went to Mexico City and achieved a regime change, and I don’t think anybody’s got the appetite for that. However, one could very much envision an incursion into Mexican border towns for the purpose of setting up detention camps. Nuevo Laredo becomes Nuevo Guantánamo. It’s nothing but political upside for Trump, as it wouldn’t be considered a “real” war, it would be outside US civil jurisdiction, it would get the migrants out of the country, and it would “get Mexico to pay”. And since it’s not US territory, once it no longer holds any political value, he could simply abandon the camps (and the people in them). Then they could cross back into the US so they could be reused for political outrage purposes. Build your own caravan! ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deportation-what-if-no-country-agrees-to-take-them/1010097/34 "2024-11-12T18:59:49Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Nuevo Laredo becomes Nuevo Guantánamo. Nogales becomes Nogales! ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deportation-what-if-no-country-agrees-to-take-them/1010097/35 "2024-11-12T19:25:21Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Breaking the law is breaking the law. Punishing people for that is completely above-board and reasonable. The laws were all set by agreement of both parties. But it’s _not_ breaking the law. That’s why they don’t get trials, there’s no crime to try them for. “Illegal” is just a word thrown around to demonize them, the proper term is “undocumented immigrant”. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deportation-what-if-no-country-agrees-to-take-them/1010097/36 "2024-11-12T19:34:36Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > But it’s _not_ breaking the law. That’s why they don’t get trials, there’s no crime to try them for. I don’t think that’s entirely accurate: > **[Prosecuting People for Coming to the United States](https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/immigration-prosecutions)** > > Over the last two decades, the federal government increasingly has utilized the criminal courts to punish people for immigration violations. This overview provides basic information about entry-related offenses, including the significant costs... > Combined, violations of 8 U.S.C. §§ 1325 and 1326 became the most prosecuted federal offenses in recent years. Indeed, as of December 2018, they constituted 65 percent of all criminal prosecutions in federal court. Prosecutions for entry-related offenses subsequently declined when the government began expelling migrants back into Mexico rather than prosecuting them. > **[8 U.S. Code § 1325 - Improper entry by alien](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1325)** > **[8 U.S. Code § 1326 - Reentry of removed aliens](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1326)** ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deportation-what-if-no-country-agrees-to-take-them/1010097/37 "2024-11-12T19:36:26Z")
I know of several republicans including myself who are furious at the way our new border czar is laying out is platform. His cold-blooded attitude is hard to stomach. I know he has a job to do but why not concentrate on the ones who are causing problems or should have never been let in to start with. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deportation-what-if-no-country-agrees-to-take-them/1010097/38 "2024-11-12T19:44:11Z")
In addition to @DavidNRockies’ list, there are also crimes related to working illegally: > **[18 U.S. Code § 1546 - Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1546)** ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deportation-what-if-no-country-agrees-to-take-them/1010097/39 "2024-11-12T19:49:29Z")
Furiosity from Republicans matters not. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deportation-what-if-no-country-agrees-to-take-them/1010097/40 "2024-11-12T19:52:40Z")
Honestly, it’s the same ol’ stuff it always has been. The government (Congress & President) have no interest in a comprehensive solution to immigration like [reimplementing programs](https://guides.loc.gov/latinx-civil-rights/bracero-program) to bring in workers or system in place to ease the process for people that have a support in place. Instead they pick and choose one specific element like build a wall or asylum for everyone that doesn’t have a hope of every becoming reality. OK so Biden opened the door for asylum seekers & refugees and Trump’s going to deport them all. And in 2028 it will be something else with no real reform ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deportation-what-if-no-country-agrees-to-take-them/1010097/41 "2024-11-12T19:53:32Z")
It does matter, I don’t think they want to jeopardize the momentum they think they have going. Whenever a party swings to far left or right they will start to lose support. This is a mistake most parties seem to make on a regular basis. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deportation-what-if-no-country-agrees-to-take-them/1010097/42 "2024-11-12T20:39:49Z")
Just to clarify - Mexico was the source of many illegal economic migrants for years. But in the last decade or two, the main sources have been beyond Mexico, in Central and South America, and from people from all over the world taking advantage of the relatively easily crossed border and extreme refugee case backlog. If such migrants make it to USA soil, Mexico is under no obligation to take them back. That to some extent they sometimes do, is a credit to the country. Apparently the latest strategy is to seek out Border Patrol and claim refugee status, rather than try to sneak past the authorities and disappear. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deportation-what-if-no-country-agrees-to-take-them/1010097/43 "2024-11-12T20:47:19Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Furiosity from Republicans matters not. I’m gonna go long on pearls. > [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > This is a mistake most parties seem to make on a regular basis. Some more than others. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deportation-what-if-no-country-agrees-to-take-them/1010097/44 "2024-11-12T20:53:17Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > I’m trying to find a cite, but there was a time in the 2010’s (?) when Cuba was refusing to take deportees. The unfortunate individuals were confined to detention facilities. But recently Cuba reversed its policy and is accepting its citizens. When I was running the detention center as I described above, we would put any Cubans on a suicide watch when they were processed for deportation. A lot of them would try to kill themselves rather than face the treatment they would get when they arrived back in Cuba. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deportation-what-if-no-country-agrees-to-take-them/1010097.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deportation-what-if-no-country-agrees-to-take-them/1010097.md?page=3)