Rights group reports uptick in Trump-era practice of sending deportees to African countries

A rights group tracking ICE flights says it’s seeing an uptick in the number of third-country removal flights — a Trump-era process where immigrants are flown from the U.S. to a country other than their own.

Human Rights First produces monthly reports showing all kinds of ICE deportation flights.

During a 24-hour period this month, the group says it tracked several third-country removal flights, including one to Liberia — marking the first time the U.S. has used a new agreement to send people from other countries to the African nation.

“So there was one plane that went to Liberia, and then to Equatorial Guinea and then finally Cameroon, and then at the same time we also saw separate flights to Paraguay, Guatemala and Honduras,” said Savi Arvey, director of policy for refugee and immigrant rights at Human Rights First.

Arvey says many on board had been granted withholding of removal orders by a judge in the U.S. That’s a form of protection that prevents someone from being sent to their home country.

“They’ve already met a high threshold, a higher threshold than asylum, due to the likelihood of persecution or torture in their countries of origin,” she said.

Arvey’s group tracked a plane from Louisiana to Liberia, then to Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon. She says people previously sent to Equatorial Guinea have been sent back to their home countries once they arrive.

As the Arizona Daily Star reported, an Arizona man originally from Egypt is among several people who have been sent to Equatorial Guinea, where they say they’re being held in a decommissioned hotel and subject to abuse by armed guards.

Arvey says 15 people were sent to Liberia, 10 to Cameroon and 12 to Equatorial Guinea.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said the administration is using “all lawful options to carry out the largest deportation operation in history.”

The spokesperson did not respond to questions about abuse deportees reported being subjected to in countries where they are sent, and referred questions about the third country agreements to the State Department.