Democrats demand DHS, State Dept. watchdogs investigate third-country deportations

The policy of sending immigrants to a third country when they can't be sent back to their home countries is a major departure from previous administrations.

A group of Democratic lawmakers called on the internal watchdogs of the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department on Tuesday to investigate the “unlawful and costly” policy of sending people to third countries to which they have no previous connections, according to a letter obtained exclusively by NBC News.

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“The Trump Administration has, with little or no notice, secretly deported individuals to countries they are not from, have no connection to, and sometimes have never heard of, leaving many feeling like victims of a human ‘smuggling operation,’” said the letter sent by Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and Reps. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., and Troy Carter, D-La., which was signed by 26 other lawmakers.

The policy of sending immigrants to so-called third countries — typically when people are barred or protected from being sent back to their home countries or their home countries are not accepting people from the U.S. — has been a major and controversial departure from previous administrations.