The negotiations mark an expansion in U.S. efforts to deport people to countries other than their own. It has sent hundreds of Venezuelans and others to Costa Rica, El Salvador and Panama but has yet to announce any major deals with governments in Africa, Asia or Europe.

Discussions with the Central African country come as the Trump administration looks for more countries willing to accept deportees as part of a sweeping crackdown.

Rwanda is in the early stages of talks to receive immigrants deported from the United States, Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe said on television late on Sunday.