U.S. Deports Criminal Migrants to Small African Nation

The Department of Homeland Security has deported several illegal criminal migrants to the small African nation of Eswatini, so bypassing opposition from the deportees’ home countries.

The migrants from Vietnam, Jamaica, Yemen, Laos, and Cuba were guilty of murder, battery, and burglary. Their home nations often block the arrival of deported migrants, especially when the migrants are a civic and economic burden.

The U.S. strategy of deporting illegal criminal migrants to other countries — “Safe Third Countries” — was recently approved by the U.S. Supreme Court amid furious opposition from migration advocates.

So far, migrants have been deported to Costa Rica, Panama, El Salvador, and South Sudan. President Donald Trump’s deputies are negotiating deportation deals with many other countries.

Eswatini is a tribal nation entirely within South Africa. It is roughly 100 miles across and is ruled by a King. The state’s economy is dependent on trade with the U.S. and Europe, helping U.S. officials make a deportation deal.

U.S. officials did not say how many migrants would be sent to Eswatini.

The expanding deportation of migrants to third countries will sharply increase the personal incentive for migrants to self-deport back to their home countries.