A CBS News analysis of federal immigration court data found that the Trump administration's policy of deporting asylum-seekers to third countries under asylum cooperative agreements with nations including Honduras, Guatemala, Ecuador, and Uganda has caused widespread case abandonment. More than 75,500 asylum cases received motions to terminate proceedings, with approximately 12,300 people withdrawing or abandoning their claims or agreeing to voluntary departure. The practice expanded after an October 2025 Board of Immigration Appeals ruling requiring judges to consider third-country removal before evaluating asylum claims on their merits. One asylum seeker, who fled Ecuador after gang threats, was ordered deported to Honduras despite never having lived there; he spent five months in detention, was transferred between five facilities, separated from his family for over a month, and became ill before withdrawing his case and agreeing to return to Ecuador. About 17,500 people have been deported to third countries since Trump took office, according to monitoring group estimates, with most sent to Mexico.