Trump administration resumes controversial third-country deportation flights, sends five migrants to Eswatini
The Trump administration has resumed its controversial policy of deporting migrants to third countries, nations other than their country of origin, with a flight on Tuesday that sent five individuals to the small African nation of Eswatini, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials confirmed.
The five deportees, originally from Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, Yemen, and Cuba, were transported under the renewed third-country deportation program, which the Supreme Court greenlit earlier this month after months of legal challenges, News.Az reports, citing The New York Times.
“NEW: a safe third country deportation flight to Eswatini in Southern Africa has landed — This flight took individuals so uniquely barbaric that their home countries refused to take them back,” Tricia McLaughlin, a DHS spokesperson, posted on social media. She said the men had been convicted of violent crimes, including murder, assault, and robbery.
Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland, is a landlocked country bordered on three sides by South Africa. It becomes the latest destination for deportations under a policy that human rights advocates and some legal scholars have called dangerous and inhumane.
The deportation comes after the Supreme Court lifted a lower court ruling that had temporarily halted such removals, citing concerns over migrants' rights to claim protection from torture under international law.
According to DHS officials, the migrants had been detained for six weeks in Djibouti as legal proceedings played out. A federal judge had earlier ruled that the government must provide more time for migrants to assert fears of torture or persecution in a third country. That decision was paused by the Supreme Court earlier this month.
The Trump administration’s use of third-country deportations dates back to its first term, but has intensified in recent months. In early 2025 alone, migrants from countries including China, Iran, and Pakistan were deported to Panama and Costa Rica. In previous months, Venezuelans were sent to El Salvador, and earlier this month, eight migrants were deported to South Sudan.
A New York Times investigation previously revealed that the Trump administration had been in negotiations with over 50 countries to accept migrants from nations they are not originally from — often with little transparency about the arrangements or legal safeguards.
Newly released internal guidance from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) permits rapid deportations under the third-country model. In cases where the State Department provides diplomatic assurances of safety, deportations can proceed within hours. Even without those assurances, deportations may occur in as little as six hours, DHS sources confirmed.
The policy has come under sharp criticism from human rights groups, legal advocates, and within the judiciary. In a forceful dissent, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor condemned the court’s decision to allow the deportations to South Sudan.
“What the government wants to do, concretely, is send the eight noncitizens it illegally removed from the United States from Djibouti to South Sudan, where they will be turned over to the local authorities without regard for the likelihood that they will face torture or death,” Sotomayor wrote.
The Trump administration has defended the approach as necessary to maintain immigration enforcement and public safety, especially when origin countries refuse to accept deported nationals. Officials have also pointed to self-deportation campaigns and detention centers — such as the Florida-based “Alligator Alcatraz” — as part of broader efforts to deter unauthorized immigration.
While the administration maintains that deportations to third countries are legal and “essential,” advocacy groups warn that such moves violate international treaties, including the United Nations Convention Against Torture.
As deportation flights continue and more countries come under negotiation, legal experts say the practice may face future constitutional and diplomatic challenges,especially if reports emerge of abuse or neglect in the countries where migrants are sent.
For now, Eswatini, with limited international oversight, joins a growing list of destinations receiving deportees under a U.S. immigration policy increasingly defined by its hardline, extraterritorial reach.
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