The Eastern European nation of Kosovo has agreed to host up to 50 migrants deported from the U.S. over a one-year period, reports confirmed on Wednesday.
The decision comes as the U.S. has increasingly pushed third-party nations to host deportees amid President Donald Trump‘s mass deportation promises.
“The government has expressed its readiness to participate, with the opportunity to select individuals from a proposed pool, provided they meet specific criteria related to the rule of law and public order,” the Kosovo government said in a statement on Wednesday, according to Reuters.
Reports surfaced last week that the U.S. was pushing Balkan nations like Serbia to accept migrants, though it remains unclear if these deportees could include migrants from nations like Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba and Nicaragua after the Supreme Court lifted the Temporary Protected Status of 500,000 migrants last month.
Kosovo is among one of the poorest nations in Europe, superseded only by Ukraine and Georgia, and has reportedly looked to similar schemes that could provide a source of income.
Fox News Digital could not immediately reach the White House or the Department of Homeland Security for questions about whether the U.S. will pay third-party nations to host U.S. deportees.
A State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital that it is “grateful to our partner Kosovo for receiving third country nationals removed from the United States and facilitating those aliens’ safe return to their home countries.”
“We welcome cooperation on this key Trump Administration priority,” the spokesman added, though they did not answer Fox News Digital’s questions on paying Kosovo for the scheme.
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Housing deportees has been a controversial topic in Kosovo long before the U.S. pushed the Balkan nation to accept its deported migrants.
Last month, the UK said it was looking to Kosovo, along with eight other nations largely from the Balkans, to open “return hubs” to host asylum seekers denied sanctuary.
The scheme is part of a broader attempt to staunch illegal migration to Britain.
Another 2022 agreement between Denmark and Kosovo saw the transfer of 300 foreign prisoners to Kosovo’s Correctional Institution in Gjilan who are expected to be deported following their sentences.
The agreement is set to bring Kosovo $217 million.
