The government of Eswatini says it will not allow five foreign nationals deported from the United States to stay in the country, insisting they will be returned to their home countries.
The deportees, from Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, Yemen, and Cuba, were flown to Eswatini under a controversial “third-country” deportation policy recently upheld by the US Supreme Court.
According to the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), all five had completed prison terms in the United States for serious criminal offences, and their home governments allegedly declined to receive them.
“The flight included individuals whose own countries refused to take them back,” said Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary at DHS, in a post on X.
Eswatini, however, quickly made it clear that the migrants would not be staying.
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“The governments of Eswatini and the United States, together with the International Organization for Migration, will facilitate the transit of these inmates to their countries of origin,” said government spokeswoman Thabile Mdluli in a statement issued Wednesday, July 16.
But the International Organization for Migration (IOM) contradicted that claim, stating it had not been involved in the deportation and was not assisting with repatriation.
The move by the US follows a Supreme Court ruling earlier this month allowing the Trump administration to proceed with sending migrants to third countries, even if those countries have no ties to them.
Critics have condemned the policy, calling it a troubling attempt to “outsource responsibility” under the US government’s tough immigration approach.