Trump Admin Couldn't Deport Migrants To Their Home Countries Because They Had Legal Protection, So it Sent Them To Cameroon: Report

The Trump administration reportedly flew nine migrants to Cameroon because it couldn't legally deport them to their home countries, according to a new report.

The New York Times detailed that none of the people involved are from Cameroon, and the African country has not reached a deal with Washington to receive deportees from third countries.

Some of the deportees told the outlet they didn't know where they were being sent until being handcuffed and chained on a flight out of Louisiana in mid-January.

They have been kept in a state-owned compound in Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon, and were told by authorities that they can't leave the place unless they agree to return to their home countries, from where they fled to avoid persecution.

One of the deportees, a man from Zimbabwe, said the operation resembled a smuggling one and he and others were "dropped like U.P.S. packages" in the country. He left Zimbabwe after refusing to join the military and could be in danger upon an eventual return.

It is unclear whether Cameroon has received money for taking the deportees, but a report from November showed that the administration has paid millions to at least five countries to take deportees from other nations. They are Equatorial Guinea, El Salvador, Eswatini, Ghana and Rwanda, according to the Washington Post.

Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen detailed back then that Equatorial Guinea was paid $7.5 million to take third country deportees. She sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressing worries about the agreement, noting that the country was ranked 173rd out of 180 on corruption on Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index.

Eswatini received over $5 million and had accepted receiving up to 160 deportees. The outlet noted that a deal between the countries contemplates funds to relocate deportees and move them. The country's spokesperson, Thabile Mdluli, acknowledged the agreement, saying the deportees will eventually be taken to their countries of origin. However, so far only one person has been returned.

As for El Salvador, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Trump administration paid about $6 million to the country to hold deported migrants. Most of them were taken to the country's mega-prison earlier in the administration. All of them, Venezuelans, were sent back home in July in a deal negotiated by the three countries.

Rwanda, in turn, received $7.5 million in a deal similar to Eswatini's. The money, the deal says, can be used to "strengthen Rwanda's border and migration management capacity, including relocation assistance and associated infrastructure necessary to administer such assistance."

Ghana agreed to take in at least 40 deportees from West Africa in exchange for fewer sanctions, tariffs and immigration restrictions. "We were approached by the U.S. to accept third-party nationals who were being removed from the U.S., and we agreed with them that West African nationals were acceptable," said President John Mahama. "West Africa has a protocol of free movement. Any West African is welcome in Ghana," he added.