In a move that stunned immigration watchers, the U.S. deported five violent convicts—including men from Cuba and Jamaica—not to their homelands, but to Eswatini, a tiny monarchy in Africa now grappling with the consequences of an unprecedented deal.
A Flight of No Return
It was the kind of diplomatic shuffle that doesn’t make the front page—until it lands in your backyard. Under cover of night, a flight from the United States touched down at Eswatini’s KMIII International Airport. But this wasn’t a goodwill delegation or business class tourists. It was a quiet drop-off of five convicted felons the U.S. no longer wanted on its soil. Among them, according to U.S. Homeland Security, were men from Cuba, Jamaica, Vietnam, Laos, and Yemen, each with a criminal past too dark to ignore—rape, murder, and crimes officials called “uniquely barbaric.”
“Their home countries refused to take them back,” explained Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, in a post on X. “These were depraved monsters terrorizing American communities. They are off of American soil.” The tone was triumphant. The reality? Far murkier. With this flight, the Trump administration’s immigration doctrine had taken a radical turn—deporting migrants not to their nations of origin, but to third-party countries that agreed, for undisclosed reasons, to receive them.
Eswatini’s Dilemma
In Eswatini—Africa’s last absolute monarchy—the reaction was immediate and divided. A government statement, issued just hours after the plane’s arrival, sought to contain the public’s unease. “Five inmates are currently housed in our correctional facilities in isolated units,” said Thabile Mdluli, a government spokesperson. “The nation is assured these inmates pose no threat.”
But in the capital of Mbabane, whispers turned quickly into protest. The local pro-democracy group Swazi Solidarity Network called the arrangement “deplorable.” Lucky Lukhele, the group’s spokesperson, was blunt: “Eswatini must not become a dumping ground for foreign criminals.”
Citizens worried aloud: What were the terms of the deal? Were prisons equipped to house such dangerous men? And who gave the green light? While officials remained silent on any financial compensation, analysts speculated the motivation might lie in sugar—Eswatini’s most valuable export. The U.S. is its fourth-largest trade partner, and avoiding tariffs may have been incentive enough for this quiet act of compliance.
Trump’s Deportation Doctrine Expands
This wasn’t an isolated flight—it was the latest in a pattern. Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court handed President Donald Trump a green light to deport migrants to third countries, even if they had no connection to them. That ruling unblocked long-discussed plans to send deportees not only to Central American allies like Costa Rica and El Salvador, but to countries with virtually no previous ties to these individuals—South Sudan, Rwanda, Benin, Angola, and now Eswatini.
In South Sudan, eight deportees landed earlier this month, escorted into a civilian facility in Juba. Only one was actually from South Sudan. The others, as with Eswatini, were merely placed wherever the U.S. could secure temporary cooperation. The trend has been clear: if the home country won’t accept its own, Washington will find another nation willing to play host.
Trump’s supporters hail this as a necessary crackdown on what he calls “lawless migration.” His critics warn it’s creating legal limbo zones and moral hazards, especially when deals are struck with fragile or authoritarian regimes. “We don’t even know if Eswatini’s prisons can keep these people locked down,” one international human rights observer told the BBC. “We just know the U.S. paid, and someone said yes.”
IG@Ministry of Justice Eswatini
Global Repercussions and the Sugar Equation
While the deportees await uncertain transfers, the fallout is already spreading. At issue is more than just safety—it’s sovereignty, and a growing concern about the geopolitical price tags now attached to immigration enforcement. In Nigeria, government officials recently told Washington they wouldn’t accept Venezuelan deportees or serve as a “parking lot” for third-country criminals. “We have enough problems of our own,” one Nigerian minister bluntly stated.
But Eswatini—landlocked, trade-reliant, and tightly ruled—appears less able to push back. According to local economists, the country’s sugar industry relies heavily on access to U.S. markets under trade frameworks that could be revised or revoked with little warning. “In this context,” said one Mbabane-based analyst, “accepting a few prisoners might be seen as a small price for keeping the economy afloat.”
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The question now is whether other countries, especially those with similar economic dependencies, will follow suit. As Cuba and Jamaica remain firm in their refusal to accept these convicts, the U.S. seems prepared to keep outsourcing deportation destinations—quietly, quickly, and with few questions asked.
Reporting by BBC News. All quotes credited to BBC unless otherwise noted.