The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced Tuesday that a flight carrying immigrants from multiple countries landed in Eswatini, a nation in southern Africa. The deportation marks the latest move by the Trump administration after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted restrictions on sending migrants to third countries.
In late June, the Supreme Court allowed the administration to resume third-country deportations, allowing the removal of migrants to nations where they have no ties and without requiring proof of potential harm, advancing the administration’s broader crackdown on mass deportations, The Guardian reported.
DHS spokesperson speaks out about migrant deportees
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin named five deportees from Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, Cuba and Yemen, all of whom were convicted of violent crimes ranging from child rape to murder.
“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,” McLaughlin said late Tuesday in a post shared on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“These depraved monsters have been terrorizing American communities,” she added, but they are now “off of American soil.”
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.These depraved monsters have been terrorizing American communities but thanks to @POTUS… pic.twitter.com/TsanIX8H4T— Tricia McLaughlin (@TriciaOhio) July 16, 2025
In the post, McLaughlin included photos of the men, the crimes for which they were convicted, and their prison sentences. She also said the Cuban deportee was a “convicted Latin King street gang member.”
Where is the Eswatini Government holding the deported men?
On Wednesday, Eswatini officials said the deported men—described as “prisoners” and “inmates”—were being held in isolated units and would eventually be returned to their home countries, The Associated Press reported.
“The Kingdom of Eswatini and the United States of America have enjoyed fruitful bilateral relations spanning over five decades. As such, every agreement entered into is done with meticulous care and consideration, putting the interests of both nations at the forefront,” the Eswatini government said in a post on X.
Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland, is a nation of 1.2 million people located between South Africa and Mozambique. It is Africa’s last absolute monarchy, ruled by King Mswati III since 1986, according to the AP.
Migrant deportees were sent to other African countries
On July 4, the U.S. deported eight migrants to another African country, South Sudan, after holding them for weeks in a converted shipping container at a military base in Djibouti. The men had initially boarded a flight in May, which was later diverted, The Guardian reported.
Tom Homan, the U.S. border chief, said last week he was unsure where those men were located after being deported: “If we removed somebody to Sudan, they could stay there a week and leave, I don’t know.”
In early July, a top Trump administration official stated in a memo that ICE could remove migrants and deport them to third countries than their homelands within a six-hour notice.
