A 21-year-old Moroccan woman identified as Farah says she is in hiding in her home country after being deported by the United States despite a judge's protection order barring her removal there. Her case illustrates the Trump administration's continued use of third-country deportations, a policy critics say risks returning migrants to danger and costs millions of dollars.
"It is hard to live and work with the fear of being tracked once again by my family," Farah told the Associated Press, adding that relatives had beaten her and threatened to kill her after originally learning she was in a same-sex relationship. This prompted her to flee Morocco, where homosexuality is punishable by up to three years in prison.
After traveling through six countries, she reached the U.S. border in early 2025 and sought asylum, as per The Los Angeles Times. She said she was detained for nearly a year and later received a protection order from an immigration judge who ruled she could not be deported to Morocco because her life would be at risk. Her partner, who did not receive such protection, was deported.
Farah said she was handcuffed and flown instead to Cameroon, a country she had never visited and where same-sex relations are also criminalized. She said officials asked if she wanted to stay; she refused, fearing for her safety, and was then sent to Morocco.
Lawyers and advocates say she is among dozens of migrants deported to third countries despite legal protections. Immigration attorney Alma David called the practice a "legal loophole," arguing to the LA Times that it denies migrants a chance to contest transfers to countries that may send them back to places where they face harm.
The Department of Homeland Security has said such removals follow the law and that agreements with partner countries "ensure due process under the U.S. Constitution."
Recent reporting indicates the U.S. has sent migrants to countries with which they have no ties, including a January flight carrying nine people to Cameroon. Some deportees said they did not know their destination until they were restrained and placed on a plane while everal were held in a government compound and told they could leave only if they agreed to return to their home countries.
A Senate Foreign Relations Committee minority report estimates the administration has spent more than $40 million on third-country deportations, sometimes exceeding $1 million per person when flights and logistics are included. Investigators found more than 80% of migrants sent to third countries had already returned or were in the process of returning to their countries of origin.
Farah said hearing U.S. officials describe migrants as threats has been difficult. "The USA is built on immigration and by immigrant labor," she said. "What was done to me was unfair."
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