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Third-country deportations
The Trump administration expanded mass deportations by sending migrants of diverse nationalities to third countries in Africa, according to a report with documentation from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“ICE rented three flights to Africa to move more than 100 migrants.”
In a ten-day period, ICE rented three flights to Africa to move more than 100 migrants, with destinations including Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Liberia, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone.
The Democracy Now! broadcast said CNN correspondent Isobel Yeung traveled to the Central African Republic and described migrants living in the capital of Bangui without family, friends, or even a common language, and at risk of malaria, extortion and violence.
Democracy Now! also cited Third Country Deportation Watch, saying the United States signed so-called third-country deportation agreements with as many as 35 governments around the world, and that most of the over 20,000 people deported under these agreements were turned back at ports of entry to Mexico.
Louisiana to Bangui
Democracy Now! aired excerpts from Isobel Yeung’s report describing how, at 8:58 p.m. on June 11, 18 migrants were brought to Alexandria Airport, Louisiana, and the migrants said they were handcuffed and shackled.
Yeung said a U.S. official called the allegation a "flat-out lie" and denied anyone was beaten, while the maker of one restraint described it as "a last-resort tool intended to promote safety and prevent escalation."
Yeung reported that nearly 20 hours after takeoff and a refueling stop, the plane touched down in Bangui, Central African Republic, and that the migrants were held for several weeks before meeting Yeung nearby.
Democracy Now! added that the migrants were placed in temporary lodgings for three months, but that Yeung said, "I don’t think anyone knows where they’re supposed to go."
Agreements and enforcement
The NTN24 report said none of the deportees on the recent flights had as their destination their country of origin, regardless of whether they had criminal records in the United States or not.
“"None of the deportees on the recent flights had as their destination their country of origin"”
It also said more than 30 countries worldwide, including Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ecuador, and Paraguay, have signed agreements with the White House to receive deportees who are not natives of their territories.
In the Democracy Now! segment, Yael Schacher, a co-lead of Third Country Deportation Watch, said the Trump administration was "really attacking and undermining the entire architecture of refugee protection" by carrying out the scheme and threatening other immigrants with third-country deportation to coerce "self-deport."
The New Republic segment described DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin speaking about mass trafficking and abuse of children, and said DHS is using its $150 billion windfall to incentivize local law enforcement to assist in confirming the locations of unaccompanied alien children via the 287(g) program.