US deports migrants, including Iranian activist, to Central African Republic

The United States has deported a group of migrants, including an Iranian pro-democracy activist, to the Central African Republic (CAR) under a contentious agreement that allows the U.S. to send individuals to third countries when they cannot be returned to their home nations.

The flight departed from Louisiana carrying approximately two dozen migrants, with nationalities including Iranian, Jordanian, Armenian, Turkish, Georgian, and Afghan, according to the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund. The plane landed in Bangui, the CAR capital, after a stop in Accra, Ghana. Details regarding the migrants' housing or the duration of their stay in the CAR remain unclear.

A source close to the U.S. Embassy indicated that some migrants were temporarily housed at a construction site near the embassy, while others were assigned to different locations. Upon arrival, men and women were separated. Lawyers for the deported individuals have voiced strong objections, citing the lack of connection and support networks for the migrants in the CAR.

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They have absolutely no connection to this place. In all of my filings I submitted tons of information about how this was super dangerous.

"These individuals are being removed from the United States and abandoned in a country where they have no status, no connection and no support network," stated Emily Trostle, the lawyer for the Iranian activist. "We fear they will ultimately be forced to return to the countries they originally fled." The Iranian American Legal Defense Fund warned that deporting Iranians to the CAR, which has close ties with Moscow and Iran, could be "a potentially fatal action."

These deportations are part of controversial deals, some forged during the Trump administration, with African and Latin American nations to accept third-country deportees. While rights groups have questioned the legality of these agreements, U.S. authorities maintain they are legally sound. The specific terms of these often-secret deals, including those with the CAR and Ghana, remain largely undisclosed.

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These individuals are being removed from the United States and abandoned in a country where they have no status, no connection and no support network. We fear they will ultimately be forced to return to the countries they originally fled.