US 'Deports' Migrants to 'Eswatini,' Not the Bahamas
According to The Hill, the Biden administration deported another 10 individuals to Eswatini, a nation formerly known as Swaziland. The article dutifully notes that the US does not have an embassy there—a minor detail perhaps, but one that raises questions about the practicalities, and perhaps, underlying motives of such transfers. As if America's immigration woes are best solved by exiling people
to a landlocked, absolute monarchy largely off the global radar. One might wonder why Honduras, El Salvador, or Guatemala – nations more commonly linked to US migrant flows and significantly impacted by historical American interventions and economic policies – aren't the primary destinations for these 'returns'. Could it be that deporting people to a distant, unfamiliar locale avoids uncomfortable
conversations about responsibility? It certainly makes it harder for repatriated individuals to attempt re-entry or speak out. Seems less about 'migration management' and more about 'out of sight, out of mind' foreign policy.