This paper seeks to develop a working definition of the externalization of migration controls and how such externalization of the border implicates the human rights of migrants, and asylum-seekers in particular. Although the majority of those migrants seeking legal protections stay in countries neighboring their own, hundreds of thousands continue their journeys in search of protection and stability in the European Union, the United States, and Australia. In response to the significant increase in asylum seekers arriving at their borders, all three entities have significantly increased deterrence measures with the hopes of keeping new arrivals from entering. This paper will thus highlight a number of the most troubling externalization strategies used by these States. Finally, because rights-threatening externalization law, policies and practices implicate the international legal responsibility of the destination States pursuing them, the paper will conclude by presenting recommendations that could strengthen protection of human rights in the context of seeking to manage migration.