US - A group of 10 migrants deported from the United States arrived early Monday in the African nation of Eswatini, authorities there said.
They are the latest of more than 40 deportees sent to Africa since July after the Trump administration struck largely secretive agreements with at least five African nations to take migrants under the new third-country deportation program that rights groups and others have protested. A lawyer for two of the latest deportees told The Associated Press earlier on Monday that their flight had arrived in the southern African kingdom after departing from Alexandria, Louisiana, and stopping in Puerto Rico, Senegal and Angola. Tin Thanh Nguyen, the US-based lawyer, said he represents two Vietnamese nationals who were on the flight. He said they had been held at the Alexandria Staging Facility immigration detention centre in Louisiana. Nguyen said he tracked their flight with help from rights group Human Rights First. The Eswatini government confirmed in a statement that 10 deportees had arrived and “have been securely accommodated in one of the country’s correctional facilities.” It didn’t name them, give details on their nationalities or say where they are being held. It said they were “in good health and undergoing admission processes.” (Jamaica Gleaner)