WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has begun implementing a migrant removal program to Rwanda, drawing sharp criticism of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to abandon Britain’s similar deportation scheme less than a year ago.
According to US media reports, an Iraqi migrant has already been transferred to the East African nation, with additional removals scheduled in the coming weeks. The development puts renewed pressure on the Labour government, which dismissed the UK’s Rwanda plan as a “gimmick” before scrapping it immediately upon taking office.
A diplomatic cable obtained by reporters details the arrangement, describing a potential “removal program for third-country nationals” where the United States would finance housing, administrative costs, and integration programs in Rwanda for migrants removed from US territory.
The Trump administration’s swift action on migration policy contrasts starkly with the UK’s experience. Britain originally signed its Rwanda agreement in 2022 under then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government as part of efforts to deter migrants from making dangerous Channel crossings in small boats.
However, the British plan became entangled in legal challenges after European judges intervened to stop the first scheduled deportation flight. Despite the UK government spending more than £700 million on the initiative, not a single removal flight ever departed British soil before Labour terminated the program.
Former Conservative Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who personally visited Rwanda during her tenure to oversee preparations for the scheme, called the US development “humiliating for the UK.”
“It would have made the British people safer and stopped the boats,” Braverman said. “The Americans are showing us what proper border control looks like.”
The parallels between the two countries’ approaches to migration control have reignited debate about the effectiveness of third-country processing. Critics of Labour’s decision argue that Starmer’s government prematurely abandoned a strategy that now appears viable under US implementation.
Defenders of Labour’s position maintain that the legal and ethical concerns surrounding the Rwanda scheme justified its cancellation. Current Home Secretary Yvette Cooper insists the government is pursuing alternative methods to increase deportations of illegal migrants through more conventional channels.
Immigration policy experts note that while the US and UK face different legal frameworks and migration challenges, Trump’s ability to operationalize a Rwanda-based solution so quickly raises questions about whether Britain’s approach was abandoned too hastily.
The White House has not commented officially on how many migrants might ultimately be transferred to Rwanda under the program, but sources familiar with the plan suggest it could become a significant component of Trump’s broader border security strategy if initial removals prove successful.
The development comes amid rising migration pressures on both sides of the Atlantic and growing public concern about border control in both countries.
