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By Dan Gooding
Associate News Editor
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The United States is now sending more immigrant deportees to countries other than their home nation, after the Supreme Court lifted a ban on the Trump administration's efforts.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Tuesday said it had sent five immigrants to Eswatini, a small nation in southern Africa. The partnership is the latest in a series of deals made by the White House to remove immigrants whose own countries are reluctant to accept them back.
Why It Matters
The Supreme Court last month ruled that the administration President Donald Trump could continue deporting immigrants to third countries, following a lawsuit and lower-court ruling that halted the practice.
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Immigration advocacy groups have argued that some countries selected for the partnerships are known for human rights violations and deportees are at risk of torture or other forms of abuse.
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Where Is the US Deporting Migrants?
While many deportees are sent back to their home countries, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has historically struggled to get everyone on its docket awaiting deportation back to their country of origin.
In December, it was reported that almost 1.5 million immigrants with deportation orders were living in communities across the U.S., from around 208 countries. Some of those nations have long avoided repatriations from the U.S., with poor diplomatic relations or ongoing unrest to blame.
Ahead of Trump's return to the White House, some leaders said they would actively oppose his mass deportation plan, meaning they would not accept returning nationals.
Trump and his Secretaries of Homeland Security and State, Kristi Noem and Marco Rubio, have worked to turn some of those countries around, with India one example where repatriation flights resumed following concerns.
One alternative is to reach agreements with other nations to take immigrants from other countries. El Salvador is likely the most infamous of the Trump administration so far, with multiple legal challenges to the administration sending upward of 250 Venezuelans to the country to be held in the high-security CECOT prison.
The government has also reached agreements with Uzbekistan and South Sudan. The latter formed part of the legal challenge that made its way to the Supreme Court, with deportees and ICE agents having to wait temporarily for weeks in Djibouti while the case played out.
DHS told Newsweek that it had drawn up deals with nearly a dozen countries for third- country removals. Not all have been made public so far.
Human Rights First, one of the organizations behind the legal challenge—known as *D.V.D. v DHS—*told Newsweek that it had concerns about the human rights records of the countries being chosen.
Where Is Eswatini?
Tuesday's deportation flight to Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland, involved people from Vietnam, Jamaica, Cuba, Yemen and Laos.
The small nation is home to around 1.2 million people and bordered by South Africa and Mozambique. It is one of the world's last remaining absolute monarchies, ruled by King Mswati III since 1986.
In 2023, the U.S. State Department raised concerns about safety in the country, including accounts of unlawful or arbitrary killings by security forces. The department currently lists the nation as a Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution, when it comes to travel.
The Eswatini government on Wednesday posted to X, formerly Twitter, that it had welcomed U.S. deportees who would make their way to their respective countries. The posts said the individuals posed "no security threat to the nation" and promised that all international rules and regulations around repatriations would be followed.
What People Are Saying
Anwen Hughes, senior director of legal strategy at Human Rights First, told Newsweek in a statement: "The United States is removing people to countries with which they have no connection based on agreements whose terms are unknown, with no meaningful opportunity—or no opportunity at all—to raise fears of persecution or torture there.
"The third countries that have received or been about to receive third-country deportees so far—El Salvador, Libya, South Sudan, now Eswatini—are marked by serious pre-existing human rights violations. This is a recipe for prolonged arbitrary detention or worse."
Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary, told Newsweek in a statement: "It is incredibly important to make sure we get these worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens out of our country. As Secretary Noem has said, if an illegal alien's home country is not taking them, they're not taking them for a reason: they are dangerous criminals. They are gang members, they are terrorists, and their country of origin doesn't want them back.
"That doesn't mean they get to stay in the United States. That is why these agreements, which ensure due process under the U.S. Constitution, are so essential to the safety of our homeland and the American people."
Acting Eswatini Government Spokesperson Thabile Mdluli, via X: "This exercise is the result of months of robust high-level engagements between the US Government & Eswatini. The 2 Governments will collaborate with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to facilitate the transit of these inmates to their countries of origin.
"The Kingdom of Eswatini and the United States of America have enjoyed fruitful bilateral relations spanning over five decades. As such, every agreement entered into is done with meticulous care and consideration, putting the interests of both nations at the forefront."
What's Next
The U.S. has also reportedly looked to set up agreements with Libya and Rwanda, with others likely as efforts to ramp up deportations continue.
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