Trump administration expands third-country deportation program, sending 5 men to tiny Eswatini

The Trump administration has expanded its program of third-country removals, sending five men from various countries to the small African nation of Eswatini.

The announcement came shortly after new guidance from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that allows migrants to be send to a country other than their home nation in as little as six hours.

The five men from Cuba, Jamaica, Laos, and Yemen all have various criminal backgrounds and convictions, according to a post from Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin, but were refused return by their home countries.

The deportations mark an expansion of Trump administration efforts to send migrants to countries beyond their home nation. It has previously sent eight migrants to South Sudan after the Supreme Court lifted a court order barring such maneuvers. And the administration has also sent some 200 Venezuelan men to be held in a notorious Salvadoran megaprison.

The post from McLaughlin said all the men sent to Eswatini had been convicted of serious crimes, such as murder and child rape. It was not clear from her post where they were convicted, whether they had finished serving their sentences and why they were released.

“These depraved monsters have been terrorizing American communities but thanks to @POTUS Trump @Sec_Noem they are off of American soil,” she wrote.

ICE updated its procedures following the Supreme Court ruling, determining migrants can be sent to third countries so long as they have “diplomatic assurances” they will not face torture or persecution there. 

Shared in a Tuesday court filing, the ICE memo signed July 9 allows migrants to be deported to a third country within 24 hours but “in exigent circumstances” migrants can be removed in as little as six hours “as long as the alien is provided reasonable means and opportunity to speak with an attorney prior to removal.”