Guyana's government said Saturday it has received the first of six deportees from the United States under the Trump administration's third-country deportation program.
Guyana's Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud said the six nationals from Cuba and Afghanistan arrived in the South American country Friday after being vetted by his administration and found to have no criminal background. He added the group was removed from the U.S. primarily because of immigration issues.
Persaud said his administration reached an agreement to host the deportees after months of negotiations. He told The Associated Press that "the U.S. has not made any further requests" for non-citizen deportations to be sent to Guyana at this time.
The arrangement will run for one year and does not constitute permanent resettlement. Those transferred to Guyana under the program will await processing there during that period.
The deportations are part of an ongoing campaign under Trump's administration to remove non-citizens from the United States through agreements with third countries rather than returning them to their nations of origin.