US sends dozens to African third-country hubs under controversial deportation plan

On July 30 and 31, the United States carried out a series of deportations that placed about two dozen individuals in four African countries—Equatorial Guinea, Sierra Leone, Ghana and the Central African Republic—according to immigration lawyers. The deportees are largely not nationals of the receiving states, raising concerns about the legality of the “third-country” approach championed by the current administration. Approximately ten people were off-loaded in Equatorial Guinea, with a similar number arriving in Sierra Leone the next day; the flight is expected to proceed to Ghana and then the CAR.

ICE declined to comment, while the ICE Flight Monitor, affiliated with Human Rights First, recorded the flights and their refueling stop in Senegal. The practice builds on a broader crackdown that leverages loopholes to move individuals the U.S. cannot repatriate, often resulting in detention or further deportation once they reach the third country.