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🇺🇸 United States /Crime & Justice

Men deported by U.S. to dangerous African nation say 'We cannot leave'

From CBS News · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • The U.S. government deported dozens of individuals, including immigrants from various countries, to the Central African Republic.
  • Deportees report being stranded in the impoverished and conflict-ridden nation with no means to leave or support themselves.
  • Many of those deported, like Yasmany Moreno de Armas and Zena Gebrgzabher, had established lives in the U.S. and have family members who are U.S. citizens.

Dozens of deportees, including immigrants from Cuba, Ecuador, Honduras, Serbia, and Vietnam, have found themselves stranded in the Central African Republic after being sent there by the U.S. government. The deeply impoverished and conflict-ridden nation is described by the State Department as one of the most dangerous in the world, with a Level 4 travel advisory warning Americans against visiting due to widespread insecurity.

We cannot leave, we don't have documents and we're suffering and missing our families, in a continent we don't know.

— Yasmany Moreno de ArmasDescribing his situation after being deported to the Central African Republic.

Yasmany Moreno de Armas, a 31-year-old Cuban immigrant who was living and working in Florida, said he only learned of his deportation to the Central African Republic upon arrival in late July. "We cannot leave, we don't have documents and we're suffering and missing our families, in a continent we don't know," Moreno de Armas told CBS News via video call from Bangui, the capital, where he and other deportees are living. He stated he had never heard of the country before his deportation.

never.

— Yasmany Moreno de ArmasAnswering whether he had heard of the Central African Republic before his deportation.

Similarly, Eritrea native Zena Gebrgzabher, 39, is also stranded in the Central African Republic. He expressed his distress over being separated from his family, including his wife and 5-year-old son, who are U.S. citizens living in Maryland. Gebrgzabher, who worked as a truck driver in the U.S., said he received no notice of his deportation or an opportunity to challenge it. His wife, Yrgalem Gehrehiwet, called the deportation "unfair and inhumane."

I miss my family. My son. He asked like every day to my wife, '(where) is my daddy?'

— Zena GebrgzabherExpressing his longing for his family after being deported.

CBS News found no significant criminal records for Moreno de Armas or Gebrgzabher beyond traffic and immigration violations. Their cases align with the Trump administration's policy of deporting third-country nationals arrested during a crackdown on illegal immigration. The U.S. government has convinced over 30 countries, including an increasing number of African nations facing conflict and human rights abuses, to accept these deportees.

More than us because he loves his dad.

— Yrgalem GehrehiwetDescribing her son's reaction to his father's absence after deportation.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by CBS News in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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