In a little-noticed move, the Trump administration has deported a group of men convicted of serious violent crimes including murder and child rape to the small southern African country of Eswatini, a nation not connected to the offenders by nationality, CBS News and DHS sources confirm.
According to Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin, the deportees originated from Cuba, Jamaica, Laos, Vietnam, and Yemen. Their deportation to Eswatini marks a continuation of the administration’s strategy of relocating non-citizen criminals to third countries when their own nations refuse to take them back. McLaughlin characterized the men’s crimes as “so uniquely barbaric” that even their countries of origin rejected their return.
Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland, is a landlocked monarchy with a population of 1.2 million. The nation’s role in accepting foreign nationals convicted of crimes raises human rights and legal concerns, especially given no clear framework for handling non-citizens deported from abroad.
This action follows the Trump administration’s wider push to deport migrants to third-party countries around the globe, including:
- Deporting Venezuelan gang suspects to El Salvador
- Sending African and Asian migrants to Costa Rica and Panama
- Transferring eight foreign nationals to war-torn South Sudan
Many of these arrangements, though not publicly disclosed in detail, have faced sharp criticism from legal experts and human rights advocates, particularly as some deportees are reportedly held without due process in dangerous or unstable regions.
In May, CBS News reported on the U.S. asking multiple countries — from Europe to Africa — to accept non-native deportees as part of this broad deportation deal-making.
Legal protections for those at risk of being sent to third countries were further eroded last month, when the Supreme Court suspended a federal ruling that had previously required the government to inform detainees in advance and offer time to contest such deportations.
In the aftermath, ICE issued new guidance under acting director Todd Lyons, allowing expedited removals with minimal or no notice, so long as receiving nations offer “credible assurances” against torture or persecution. Detainees now have as little as 6 to 24 hours to raise fears — but only if they speak up; ICE won’t ask them proactively.
As global outrage grows over the use of third-party deportations — especially to unstable or unrelated countries — questions mount about how these deportees will be treated, and whether such tactics will become permanent U.S. policy.