The European country of Kosovo has agreed to a Trump administration request to allow the U.S. to deport a small group of migrants to the landlocked Balkan nation who are not from there, U.S. and Kosovar officials told CBS News.
Officials in Kosovo, Europe’s youngest country, agreed to host 50 deportees from other countries, the latest agreement in a broader and aggressive effort by the Trump administration to convince countries around the world to accept migrants who are not their citizens.
In a statement to CBS News, Kosovo’s embassy in the U.S. confirmed the deportation agreement.
“In response to the request from the United States regarding the reception and relocation of third-country nationals, we have expressed our willingness to cooperate with the United States in addressing this matter under established conditions,” the embassy said.
Kosovo’s embassy said the deal would allow 50 deportees from other nations to be “temporarily relocated” to Kosovo, while officials there work to facilitate “their safe return to their home country.”
It’s unclear who exactly could be sent by the U.S. to Kosovo or which countries they would be from. Typically, the U.S. uses third country deportation agreements to deport migrants whose home countries won’t take them back, in some cases because of strained diplomatic relations.
Kosovo’s embassy said the government in Pristina would seek “the opportunity to select individuals from a proposed pool, provided they meet specific criteria related to the rule of law and public order.”
In a statement to CBS News, the U.S. State Department said, “We welcome cooperation on this key Trump Administration priority.”
“We are grateful to our partner Kosovo for receiving third country nationals removed from the United States and facilitating those aliens’ safe return to their home countries,” the State Department added.
Formerly part of Yugoslavia, Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008. The country is recognized by more than 100 nations, including the U.S. But other nations do not recognize its independence, including Serbia, which considers Kosovo one of its regions.
Kosovo considers the U.S. one of its strongest allies on the international stage. After the chaotic American military withdrawal from Afghanistan in the summer of 2021, Kosovo agreed to host Afghan evacuees who required extra vetting due to security flags.
Since President Trump began his second term and launched a sweeping crackdown on illegal immigration, the U.S. government has approached nations in Asia, Africa, Latin America and other parts of the world, seeking deportation deals.
The second Trump administration has already deported several hundred Asian and African migrants to Costa Rica and Panama. It sent more than 200 Venezuelans accused of gang ties to El Salvador, where they were imprisoned at an infamous mega-prison. And it has tried to deport migrants to violence-torn Libya and South Sudan, though those efforts have been stymied by U.S. courts.
