US deported more than 100 people to eight African countries
The administration of US President Donald Trump deported more than 100 people from Afghanistan, Cuba, Nicaragua and other countries from the United States to eight African states over 10 days. None of those deported was a citizen of the country to which they were sent, CBS News reports, citing internal US government documents.
Three flights operated by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) transported people to Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Liberia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone. Those deported included citizens of Iran, Nepal, Turkey and Venezuela, as well as people from African countries who were sent to states other than their countries of origin.
Agreements with third countries
According to the outlet, more than 30 countries worldwide have agreed to accept deportees from the United States under third-country deportation arrangements. They include Costa Rica, Panama and Paraguay. A number of African states have also entered into such agreements, including the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan.
Some of these arrangements have not been publicly disclosed. According to CBS News, Ghana and Sierra Leone likely agreed to accept only deportees from other African countries. At the same time, Eswatini, the Central African Republic and Liberia accepted detainees from Latin America, Europe and Asia.
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Some deportees had criminal convictions in addition to immigration-law violations. At the same time, many people sent to other countries had no criminal record other than entering the United States illegally or lacking documents to remain in the country.
Deportation of an Afghan man to the Central African Republic
The latest flight brought detainees to Sierra Leone and the Central African Republic. Among those deported to the Central African Republic was a 24-year-old Afghan man, Khalil, whose family helped US forces fight the Taliban. His surname is not being disclosed because of his family’s concerns about possible danger to him and his relatives.
In August 2025, a US immigration judge granted Khalil legal protection known as withholding of removal, finding that he could face persecution in Afghanistan. This protection barred ICE from returning him to Afghanistan but did not prevent deportation to a third country.
The US Department of Homeland Security told CBS News that if a person goes to court and refuses to return to their country of origin, authorities are, according to its statement, required to find a safe and secure destination country for that person.
