The Eastern European country of Kosovo has agreed to take up to 50 migrants over a one-year period.
“The government has expressed its readiness to participate, with the opportunity to select individuals from a proposed pool, provided they meet specific criteria related to the rule of law and public order,” the government said in a statement to Reuters. Discussing the Kosovo-U.S. relationship, the government said it holds U.S. support in “very high regard.”
The U.S. State Department confirmed the plan, telling CBS News, “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.
Several other countries have participated in negotiations to take deported migrants from the United States.
According to Rwanda’s foreign minister, Olivier Nduhungirehe, the country participated in discussions on the matter last month. Nduhungirehe told Rwanda TV that the country “has not yet reached a stage where we can say exactly how things will proceed, but the talks are ongoing,” noting that they are “still in the early stages.”
In April, Uzbekistan entered into a “landmark” agreement with the United States to take more than 100 illegal immigrants, a move which underscored the “deep security cooperation between our nations and sets a standard for U.S. alliances,” a statement from the Department of Homeland Security read at the time.
Earlier this year, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele made an offer to accept deportees from the United States.
“Multiple agreements were struck to fight the waves of illegal mass migration currently destabilizing the entire region. President Bukele agreed to take back all Salvadoran MS-13 gang members who are in the United States unlawfully,” spokesperson Tammy Bruce said at the time. “He also promised to accept and incarcerate violent illegal immigrants, including members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang, but also criminal illegal migrants from any country. And in an extraordinary gesture never before extended by any country, President Bukele offered to house in his jails dangerous American criminals, including U.S. citizens and legal residents.”
