âť“WHAT HAPPENED: The Trump administration has deported five convicted criminal migrants to Swaziland, also known as Eswatini, as it expands its third-country deportation program.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Swazi authorities, and five foreign criminals from Vietnam, Jamaica, Cuba, Yemen, and Laos.
đź“ŤWHEN & WHERE: Deportations were announced Tuesday, with the migrants sent to Swaziland, Africa.
đź’¬KEY QUOTE: “Individuals so uniquely barbaric that their home countries refused to take them back.” – Tricia McLaughlin, DHS Assistant Secretary, on the deportees.
🎯IMPACT: The deportations will serve as an incentive for illegal immigrants to be less resistant to leaving the U.S. voluntarily, as they risk being sent to comparatively undesirable countries even if their homelands will not take them back easily.
The United States has deported five men, described as “barbaric” criminals, to the small African kingdom of Swaziland, or Eswatini, as part of its third-country deportation program. The announcement was made by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Tuesday. The deportees, identified as citizens of Vietnam, Jamaica, Cuba, Yemen, and Laos, were reportedly convicted of crimes including murder and child rape.
Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated in a post on X that the men had “been terrorizing American communities” but were now “off of American soil.” She added that these individuals were “so uniquely barbaric that their home countries refused to take them back.”
The deportees’ criminal records and sentences were shared publicly, though their names were not disclosed.
The deportations to Swaziland follow a Supreme Court ruling that lifted restrictions on sending migrants to third countries with which they have no ties. Eight other migrants were previously deported to South Sudan, where their fate remains unclear. Swazi authorities have not commented publicly on any agreement with the U.S. to accept deportees, nor have they clarified what will happen to them.
The U.S. has identified Africa as a region for potential third-country deportation agreements, with countries like Rwanda reportedly in talks to host deported migrants. Previously, the United Kingdom funded a scheme to deport migrants crossing the English Channel from France in small boats, but Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer terminated it before it could begin on his first day in office.
Join Pulse+ to comment below, and receive exclusive e-mail analyses.
