Five deported from US to Eswatini over criminal convictions

The United States has dispatched five men to the small African nation of Eswatini as part of the Trump administration's expansion of its third-country deportation program, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday.

The U.S. has previously deported eight men to another African country, South Sudan, following the Supreme Court's removal of restrictions on sending individuals to nations where they lack connections.

In a late-night update on X, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated that the men, who are citizens of Vietnam, Jamaica, Cuba, Yemen, and Laos, arrived in Eswatini via plane.

She noted that they were all convicted criminals and described them as “individuals so uniquely barbaric that their home countries refused to take them back.”

Eswatini authorities have not yet commented on any agreements to accept third-country deportees or the fate of these individuals in their nation.

The Trump administration has expressed its intention to negotiate more agreements with African countries to accept deportees from the U.S. However, some nations have resisted, with Nigeria stating it is rejecting U.S. pressure to accept deportees who are citizens of other countries.

Additionally, the U.S. has sent hundreds of Venezuelans and others to Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Panama.

Eswatini, home to approximately 1.2 million people, is located between South Africa and Mozambique.

It is one of the last absolute monarchies in the world — and the only one in Africa — with King Mswati III having ruled by decree since 1986. The country was formerly known as Swaziland.

Political parties are largely prohibited, and pro-democracy organizations have long claimed that Mswati III has suppressed any political opposition, sometimes through violent means.