Eswatini, a tiny kingdom in Southern Africa, became the unexpected temporary home for five deportees from Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, Yemen, and Cuba, all accused of serious offenses during their time in the U.S. prison system.
The move marks the first execution of a new "third-country deportation" practice approved by the Supreme Court earlier in July, allowing the Trump administration to transfer individuals to countries that they had no affiliation with. The Assistant Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Tricia McLaughlin, mentioned that this situation arose because the deportees' home countries “refused to take them back.”
However, Eswatini’s government, via spokesperson Thabile Mdluli, revealed plans for the migrants' return to their respective nations with assistance from U.S. authorities and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Nonetheless, the IOM clarified it had no role in the U.S. deportation process nor in the repatriation planning.
This situation illustrates the complexities of international deportations, especially when individual nations refuse to accept their former citizens, forcing reliance on third-party nations like Eswatini to shoulder the burden temporarily.
The move marks the first execution of a new "third-country deportation" practice approved by the Supreme Court earlier in July, allowing the Trump administration to transfer individuals to countries that they had no affiliation with. The Assistant Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Tricia McLaughlin, mentioned that this situation arose because the deportees' home countries “refused to take them back.”
However, Eswatini’s government, via spokesperson Thabile Mdluli, revealed plans for the migrants' return to their respective nations with assistance from U.S. authorities and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Nonetheless, the IOM clarified it had no role in the U.S. deportation process nor in the repatriation planning.
This situation illustrates the complexities of international deportations, especially when individual nations refuse to accept their former citizens, forcing reliance on third-party nations like Eswatini to shoulder the burden temporarily.
