Uzbekistan agrees to pay for and accept 131 Central Asian illegal immigrants in landmark agreement

FIRST ON FOX: A plane full of Central Asian illegal immigrants is on its way from the U.S. to Uzbekistan at no cost to Americans under a deal brokered between the two governments, Fox News Digital has learned. 

Over 100 unlawful immigrants are flying back to Uzbekistan on Wednesday as part of the agreement, and Uzbekistan is paying for the chartered deportation flight, the first such agreement by a foreign government since President Donald Trump took office. The flight, which took off this morning, had 131 migrants on board. 

People from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan were on board the flight after Uzbekistan's government agreed to accept nationals from all three countries. 

The deal, which the Trump administration says is a model framework for how it wants other nations to engage with the U.S. on immigration, is the result of months of diplomatic engagement between State Department officials, DHS officials, the White House and the National Security Council with their counterparts from Uzbekistan.

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The deal "underscores the deep security cooperation between our nations and sets a standard for U.S. alliances," the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement.

"We commend Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev for his leadership in sending a flight to return 131 illegal aliens back to their home country," said DHS  Secretary Kristi Noem in a statement. "We look forward to continuing to work together with Uzbekistan on efforts to enhance our mutual security and uphold the rule of law."

Uzbekistan, with its more than 37 million people, is a security partner of the U.S. in Central Asia, situated in the neighborhood of Iran, China and Afghanistan. 

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The arrangement follows a deal brokered by the Trump administration after a showdown with Colombia, by which the South American country agreed to accept its nationals, including those on military planes, after President Gustavo Petro originally rejected two Colombia-bound U.S. military aircraft carrying unlawful migrants. 

It also follows an agreement with El Salvador, by which President Nayib Bukele agreed to receive not only his own nationals but those from Venezuela and potentially other countries that will not take their own citizens back from the U.S. Many of the immigrants are suspected of gang ties and are being held in El Salvador’s notoriously brutal CECOT prison. 

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested 66,463 illegal immigrants and removed 65,682 of them.

Border encounters dropped to an average of 11,363 per day in February and March, Trump's first two full months in office, compared to an average of nearly 160,000 during the Biden administration.