(Adnkronos) – The Trump administration has expelled over one hundred migrants from Afghanistan, Cuba, Nicaragua, and other countries in ten days, transferring them to eight African states of which they are not citizens. Cbs News reports this, citing internal US government documents, according to which three Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) flights have brought dozens of men and women to Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Liberia, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone. Among those expelled are also citizens of Iran, Nepal, Turkey, and Venezuela. The transfers are part of the Trump administration’s policy of deportations to “third countries,” which has reportedly reached agreements with over 30 states willing to accept people expelled from the United States even in the absence of ties to the destination country.
Among the cases cited by Cbs News is that of Khalil, a 24-year-old Afghan transferred to the Central African Republic despite an American immigration judge having granted him a form of protection last year that prevented his repatriation to Afghanistan due to the risk of persecution. However, the measure did not prohibit the United States from expelling him to a third country. The young man’s family had collaborated with American forces during the war against the Taliban, and one of his brothers, a pilot, was killed in the conflict. “If Khalil is sent back to Afghanistan, I believe he will be killed,” said Marine Colonel Zachary Schmidt, who had served with one of the young man’s brothers.
Contacted by Cbs News, the Department of Homeland Security defended the deportations, explaining that when an irregular migrant appeals against returning to their home country, American authorities are required to identify “a safe and protected nation” to transfer them to. The State Department, however, refused to comment on “private diplomatic communications with other governments,” reiterating that the “absolute priority” remains the full implementation of the Trump administration’s migration policies.
