A Human Rights Center Investigations Lab report from UC Berkeley found the U.S. has built agreements with 35 countries to accept deportees, removing more than 21,000 immigrants and refugees to nations with which they had no prior connection, often in exchange for payments or under threat of lost aid. Many of those removed were in the U.S. legally and had no criminal record, with some later returned to their home countries despite risks of persecution or torture. A federal judge ruled in April that the government must assess torture-related claims before such deportations, but the Supreme Court allowed them to resume in June, and more than 130 immigration judges have since been fired as the policy expanded. Critics, including the report's authors, say the practice violates U.S. law and international human rights standards.