U.S. Bypasses Deportation Rules For Africa, Cites 'Expediency'
The Axios piece details how the Trump administration allegedly bypassed legal safeguards, funneling deportees with criminal convictions—from Mexico, Vietnam, and Jamaica—to prisons in South Sudan and Eswatini. This occurred despite their countries of origin being willing to accept them, a clear violation of U.S. law prioritizing home country deportation. The move, characterized by a class-action
lawsuit as a 'punitive stunt,' conveniently ignores established processes that designate preferred destinations. This 'third country' tactic isn't new; we've seen it with Venezuelans sent to El Salvador and asylum seekers to Costa Rica. It screams of performative cruelty, where human beings become pawns in a political spectacle designed for optics, not justice or due process. One might wonder who
benefits from such 'expedient' detours and what international norms are conveniently fractured along the way when Western powers decide their own rules are merely suggestions.