United States and Paraguay signed Safe Third Country Agreement at State Department

On August 14, 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Paraguayan Foreign Minister Rubén Ramírez Lezcano signed a Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) at the State Department in Washington, under which Paraguay agreed to consider accepting the transfer of asylum seekers currently in the United States to pursue their protection claims there instead. Rubio said the deal would let the two nations "share the burden of managing illegal immigration while shutting down the abuse of our nation's asylum system." Under its terms, Paraguay agreed not to return any transferred person to their home country or a former country of residence until a final decision was made on their protection claim, and the U.S. agreed not to transfer unaccompanied minors.

A February 2026 addendum expanded the agreement's scope beyond asylum seekers specifically to third-country nationals more generally, broadening who could be sent to Paraguay under the arrangement. Implementation has not been frictionless: Paraguay rejected nine of an initial group of 25 migrants slated for transfer after a verification process found they failed to meet documentation requirements, according to Foreign Minister Ramírez Lezcano. At least 38 people have been transferred to Paraguay across four flights since April 2026.

2026-02-19 — DHS and State signed addendum broadening the agreement to Spanish-speaking third-country nationals generally

DHS and the State Department signed an "Additional Memorandum of Understanding" with Paraguay's National Commission for the Stateless and Refugees (CONARE) on February 19, 2026, formalizing the expansion referenced above. The addendum makes third-country nationals from any Spanish-speaking country eligible for transfer to Paraguay — not just asylum seekers — and sets concrete transfer procedures: the U.S. intends to recommend no more than 25 individuals per month (though Paraguay may accept more, or other nationalities, at its discretion), send a flight manifest through the U.S. Embassy 72 hours before each transfer with each person's name, sex, date of birth, nationality, and criminal-record status limited to immigration violations, and coordinate reception with the International Organization for Migration for housing, food, and emergency medical care at no cost to Paraguay.