ICE Sends Afghans and Others to Africa, Expanding “Third-Country” Deportations

The Trump administration sent more than 100 people expelled from the United States to eight African countries over 10 days, including Afghanistan, Cuba, Nicaragua, Iran, Nepal, Turkey and Venezuela among their countries of origin.

Internal U.S. government documents obtained by CBS News show that three Immigration and Customs Enforcement flights transported the detainees to Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Liberia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone. None of the deportees came from the countries where they were sent.

The flights expand Washington’s use of “third-country” deportation arrangements. More than 30 countries worldwide have agreed to receive deportees from the United States, including Costa Rica, Panama and Paraguay. An increasing number of African governments have also reached such agreements with the Trump administration.

The arrangements differ by country. Ghana and Sierra Leone appear to have agreed to receive deportees from elsewhere in Africa, while Eswatini, the Central African Republic and Liberia have taken people from Latin America, Europe and Asia.

Some deportees have criminal convictions as well as immigration violations. Officials imprisoned people sent to Eswatini and South Sudan after convictions for violent or serious crimes in the United States. Others, however, had no criminal history beyond entering the country illegally or lacking the documents required to remain there.

The latest of the three flights delivered detainees to Sierra Leone and the Central African Republic. CBS reported that the Central African Republic has faced longstanding armed conflict and the presence of Russian mercenaries. The agreements have largely remained secret, according to the report.