583 Nepalis Deported from U.S. in First Year of Trump’s Second Term, Only 24 Complaints Filed Against Human Traffickers

A total of 583 Nepali nationals have been deported from the United States during the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term, according to data from Nepal’s Department of Immigration.

The department’s records show a sharp rise in deportations in recent months, with large groups of Nepalis sent back on chartered flights. Most of the deported individuals are men, while the number of women remains relatively low.

Officials said the majority of those deported had entered the United States illegally, primarily through Mexico. Many of them reportedly paid human traffickers between $55,000 and $70,000 to facilitate their travel.

In November 2025, the U.S. deported 80 Nepalis, followed by 95 in December. By January 20, 2026 — the exact date marking one year of Trump’s second term — another 98 Nepalis had been sent back. On that single day, a chartered flight carrying 80 deportees, including one woman, arrived in Kathmandu. Similarly, in December, 75 individuals — 69 men and six women — were deported on a single chartered flight.

Since December, deportations by charter flights have occurred at least once a month. Upon arrival at Tribhuvan International Airport, deportees are handed over by immigration officials to the Bureau of Human Trafficking Investigation and Research. The bureau conducts preliminary questioning and turns them over to family members unless a formal complaint is filed.

Authorities have so far recorded only 24 complaints related to human trafficking, most targeting local agents based in Nepal. Officials say the number of complaints remains very low compared to the total number of deportees, suggesting that most victims have refrained from lodging formal reports.

Government data shows that the latest flight comes amid a dramatic rise in deportations of Nepali nationals from the U.S. In 2025 alone, a record 485 Nepalis were deported—the highest annual total to date. This figure is more than four times the total recorded during the entire Biden administration and surpasses the total deported during Donald Trump’s previous presidency.

During President Biden’s four-year term, 110 Nepalis were deported, compared to nearly 350 during Trump’s first term. By contrast, the 2025 figure alone exceeds both totals combined.

Deportation records indicate a sharp year-by-year increase: 23 in fiscal year (FY) 2021, 28 in FY 2022, 22 in FY 2023, and nearly 50 in FY 2024. Biden, who assumed office in 2021, oversaw one deportation charter flight that year carrying seven Nepalis. The previous surge occurred at the end of Trump’s first term, when 162 individuals were deported in FY 2019 and 97 in FY 2020.

The Nepali government has continued to cooperate with U.S. authorities by accepting its citizens. The Nepali Embassy in Washington, D.C., has played a central role in this process, issuing travel documents at the request of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for individuals lacking valid passports.

According to embassy spokesperson Aruna Ghising, 407 travel documents were issued in 2025, including 394 for Nepalis deported by ICE. The embassy also assisted 14 Nepalis stranded in Panama, Mexico, and Costa Rica along migration routes, providing free travel papers for their return to Nepal.

(Editorial Note: The data presented in this report is preliminary. Please note that figures may vary slightly due to different datasets maintained by Nepal’s Department of Immigration, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Nepal’s Anti-Human Trafficking Bureau.)