Trump administration again deports third-country nationals to Eswatini

(Patria) - The administration of US President Donald Trump sent another deportation flight of third-country nationals to the small African country of Eswatini on Monday, officials from both countries said, the second in recent months despite objections from migrant lawyers.

The government of Eswatini said it received ten deportees from third countries, adding to an initial group of five it received in July.

A White House spokesperson confirmed the deportations, saying those sent were serious criminals. Neither government disclosed the nationalities of the deportees, Reuters reports.

US immigration lawyer Tin Thanh Nguyen said in a statement that among the ten deportees were three people from Vietnam, one from the Philippines, one from Cambodia, and five others. Nguyen said he represents two people who arrived on Monday and two others who were previously sent to Eswatini, but he has not been able to speak with them.

“I cannot call them. I cannot email them. I cannot communicate through local lawyers because the Eswatini government is blocking access for all lawyers,” he said in the statement.

Trump aims to deport millions of immigrants who are in the United States illegally, and his administration has sought to increase deportations to third countries as part of that measure. While the Trump administration claimed some of the deportees’ home countries would not accept them, some threatened with deportation to another country were eventually deported to their home countries.

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said those deported to Eswatini were convicted of “heinous crimes,” including murder and rape. “They do not belong in the United States.”

The first five immigrants deported to Eswatini this year were from Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, Cuba, and Yemen. One man, from Jamaica, has already been repatriated. Two others are expected to be repatriated soon, the Eswatini government said.

Eswatini, a small, landlocked kingdom bordering South Africa, has not disclosed the terms of its agreement with the Trump administration and faces a lawsuit from local activists who claim it was illegal.

Legal and human rights activists have also protested the treatment of the deportees, the first group of whom were held in solitary confinement.

The Eswatini Department of Correctional Services said in a statement that it remains “committed to the humane treatment of all persons in its custody.”
The department said the individuals would be held in correctional facilities until they could be repatriated to their home countries.