The United States has deported more than 100 citizens from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan to Tashkent in what Uzbek officials said is part of initiative aimed at ensuring the rights of its citizens caught in "difficult situations abroad."
The flight from New York to Tashkent was reportedly arranged on April 30 and operated by Uzbekistan Airways. A statement released by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said that Uzbekistan funded the operation in full.
The deportations appear to mark the first such deal between the United States and a foreign government since the President Donald Trump took office in January.
"We are talking about citizens who have violated visa requirements or have expired their legal stay in the United States," Ahror Burkhanov, a spokesman for the Uzbek Foreign Ministry, wrote in a social media post.
"The repatriation process will be organized on the basis of humanitarian and legal principles, ensuring the dignified and safe return of citizens," he added, though he did not say how many of those deported on April 30 were Uzbek nationals.
Since taking office on January 20, Trump has declared a crackdown on illegal immigration.
Immigration agents have carried out hundreds of raids in various cities with thousands of immigrants arrested.
Many critics say a large number of those deported to third countries are refugees who have been granted protections against returning to their home countries, where they would face persecution or torture.
Demonstrations and pickets have been held against Washington's anti-immigration policy, and a judge handed down a ruling on April 18 that barred the Trump administration from rapidly deporting migrants to countries other than their own without giving them a chance to show they fear being persecuted.
The government has appealed the court ruling.
The DHS said the operation "underscores the deep security cooperation" between the nations and "sets the standard for US alliances."
"We commend Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev for his leadership in sending a flight to return 131 illegal aliens to their home country," said US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
She added that the Trump administration will continue to work with Uzbekistan on efforts to "enhance mutual security and uphold the rule of law."
Uzbek media reported the Kyrgyz and Kazakh nationals who arrived on the flight to Uzbekistan will continue on to their home countries.
Earlier, the Uzbek Foreign Ministry said the repatriation process was organized on the basis of "humanitarian and legal principles."
"It is aimed at ensuring the dignified and safe return of citizens," the ministry said in a statement.
In January this year, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement estimation showed that 975 Uzbeks living in the US as illegal migrants could be deported from the country in the near future.
Following the reports, the NY Times said in February that US authorities had begun deporting Central Asian migrants to Panama and Costa Rica to speed up the process of their removal from the country.
From September 2023 to September 2024, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported 572 people to Uzbekistan.
In August 2024, RFE/RL's Uzbek Service published an investigation detailing the plight of hundreds of Uzbek and Kyrgyz migrants attempting to enter the United States illegally from Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Mexico.