Trump administration sends people to Eswatini in latest "third-country deportation" scheme
Washington DC - President Donald Trump's administration sent five migrants from Asian and Caribbean countries to the small African kingdom of Eswatini, officials said Tuesday.
The deported persons are nationals of Cuba, Jamaica, Laos, Vietnam, and Yemen.
"These criminal illegal aliens are so uniquely barbaric that their home countries refused to take them back," the Department of Homeland Security raved on X.
It claimed they were convicted of violent crimes such as child rape and murder.
The Trump administration has defended so-called third-country deportations as necessary since the home nations of some of those targeted for removal sometimes refuse to accept them.
The Supreme Court in June paved the way for the Trump administration to resume deportations of migrants to countries that are not their own, despite warnings that the practice puts people at risk of torture and other abuses.
Eight other people were deported to conflict-plagued South Sudan earlier this month.
Eswatini, the last absolute monarchy in Africa, has been led by King Mswati III since 1986.
The 57-year-old ruler has been criticized for his lavish lifestyle and has faced accusations of human rights violations.
His country, formerly known as Swaziland, is landlocked by neighbors South Africa and Mozambique.
Since re-taking office in January, Trump and his administration have waged an all-out war on immigrants, many of whom have been snatched by masked agents and sent to detention centers – either in the US or countries such as El Salvador – that resemble concentration camps.
Cover photo: IMAGO / Russian Look