Report: US Seeks More Countries to Accept Migrants

The Trump administration is working to find other countries to accept illegal migrants, it was reported.

Officials are talking to governments in Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

Libya, Rwanda, Benin, Eswatini, Moldova, Mongolia, and Kosovo are among the countries the U.S. has asked to receive migrants.

During its first month, the Trump administration reached deals with Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, and Panama to act as stopovers or destinations for migrants expelled from the U.S. It also brokered deals with Venezuela to pick up its people in Texas, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and Honduras.

The administration transferred hundreds of immigrants to El Salvador last month despite a federal judge's order temporarily barring the deportations under an 18th century wartime declaration targeting Venezuelan gang members.

Now, administration officials are seeking agreements with other countries similar to the deal with Panama in February, the Journal reported.

Under that one-time agreement, the U.S. sent more than 100 migrants, mostly from the Middle East, to Panama, which detained the migrants and worked to send them to their home countries.

The Journal added that Trump officials aren't necessarily looking to sign formal agreements. They hope nations agree to the requests, perhaps in exchange for financial arrangements.

The Journal also said administration officials are trying to persuade some Latin American countries to sign longer-term agreements designating them as safe places for migrants to ask for asylum.

Many of the countries being contacted are places where the U.S. government has raised serious concerns about human-rights abuses. They include Libya and Rwanda.

"Most of the countries that are willing to go along with this are probably going to be problematic countries," said Ricardo Zuniga, a former senior State Department and National Security Council official under former President Barack Obama, the Journal said.

"But even they are asking, 'What's in it for us? Who's going to pay for it? How am I going to explain the political burden of accepting people on behalf of the United States?'"

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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