US Immigration Agency Expands Third-Country Deportation Practice

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement expanded its third-country deportation practice over a ten-day period by removing more than one hundred individuals from countries such as Afghanistan, Cuba, and Nicaragua to eight different African nations with which they have no ties.

Flight Details and Destination Countries

Three separate Immigration and Customs Enforcement flights, carrying numerous women and men deported from the U.S., dropped off passengers in Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Liberia, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone.

It was reported that none of the deported individuals are citizens of these eight African countries or have any ties to them.

Migrants of Diverse Nationalities Targeted

The flights included citizens of Afghanistan, Cuba, and Nicaragua, as well as individuals from Iran, Nepal, Turkey, and Venezuela, along with other African detainees who were not from the target countries.

This situation, as federal documents also reveal, demonstrates that the U.S. administration has intensified third-country deportation agreements targeting distant nations.

Global Scope and Agreements

Worldwide, more than thirty countries have reached agreements with the U.S. to accept such deportation processes. Alongside certain countries in Latin America, a growing number of African nations have also signed agreements under this scope.

Internal security documents clearly highlight U.S. efforts to expand this strategy across a broader international geography.

The Case of Khalil, an Afghan Citizen

Among those deported to the Central African Republic was a twenty-four-year-old Afghan young man named Khalil, whose family helped American forces fight the Taliban.

It was noted that Khalil had won legal protection against deportation in a U.S. immigration court, but this situation did not legally prevent him from being sent to a third country.