2,044 events on record Subscribe September 10, 2026
Standing Record home The Standing Record A non-partisan record of US democratic norms —
and the events that erode them.

Trump administration began forced third-country deportations to Moldova

ICE sent the first group of third-country nationals to Moldova on an ICE Air charter flight on March 10, 2026, the first such removal to the country, according to Human Rights First's ICE Flight Monitor. No agreement between the U.S. and Moldova has ever been disclosed; among those sent were Russian asylum seekers, including anti-war activists and draft evaders, some of whom did not speak Moldovan or have any connection to the country.

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
United States; destination Moldova (Chișinău)

Abuses documented

Actors

Human Rights First's ICE Flight Monitor documented the first-ever U.S. removal flight to Moldova on March 10, 2026, part of a broader March surge that saw 225 removal flights to 46 countries, a 23 percent increase from February. No agreement between the United States and Moldova governing the transfers has ever been disclosed by either government. Two further flights followed, in April and June 2026.

Among those sent to Moldova were Russian nationals, including asylum seekers who had fled Russia as anti-war activists or draft evaders; The Boston Globe reported that on the same ICE charter flight that removed one prominent Russian asylum seeker's case was still pending, four other Russian activists and draft dodgers were flown out to Uzbekistan and Moldova, with no connection to either country. Russians overall faced a record asylum-denial rate in 2025 — 31 percent, the highest in 24 years — as removals to third countries expanded alongside stepped-up deportations to Russia itself.

Why we recorded this

Sending an asylum seeker fleeing political persecution to a third country with which they have no connection, rather than adjudicating their claim or even confirming the receiving state can protect them, treats the person as cargo to be routed rather than an individual entitled to a fair hearing. Russian anti-war activists and draft evaders were among those placed on the March 10, 2026 flight to Moldova — people whose claims of persecution at home were not resolved through a hearing, but through removal to a country with no disclosed agreement governing their treatment.

Sources

  1. ICE Flight Monitor: March 2026 Report — Human Rights First (ICE Flight Monitor) investigative accessed July 31, 2026
  2. The US is turning its back on Russian asylum seekers — The Boston Globe investigative accessed July 31, 2026

See also