Trump Admin Deported 'Uniquely Barbaric' Migrants To Another Remote African Country

The Trump administration has deported five migrants to the African nation of Eswatini, the latest episode in which a group of people is taken to a so-called third country: one other than their nationality.

The decision was announced by Assistant Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Tricia McLaughlin, who said the migrants taken were so "uniquely barbaric that their home countries refused to take them back."

"These depraved monsters have been terrorizing American communities but thanks to President Donald Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem they are off of American soil," added McLaughlin, who then provided a brief profile of those impacted by the decision.

Concretely, the men hail from five different countries: Vietnam, Laos, Jamaica, Cuba and Yemen, their crimes ranging from child rape to murder. Axios noted it wasn't clear when Trump officials made a deal with authorities from Eswatini to deport migrants there.

The deportation flight comes shortly after reports of a memo showing that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is looking to deport migrants to third countries with as little as six hours of previous notice.

Reuters detailed that while ICE usually waits at least 24 hours to deport people after informing them of their removal to a third country, it will now seek to reduce the time to six hours "in exigent circumstances" if the person was allowed to speak to an attorney. It is not clear what amounts to "exigent circumstances."

The memo adds that migrants would be sent to countries that pledged not to persecute or torture them. The move comes after the Supreme Court overruled a court order limiting deportations without a screening for fear of persecution in the destination country.

Migrants have already been taken to different countries around the world, a previous high-profile case being that of eight men sent to South Sudan. The Intercept reported last week that the men were deceived by immigration enforcement officials, being told they were being sent on a short trip from Texas to Louisiana rather than their actual destination when first taken out of the country.

The men were kept there for weeks, shackled and held in shipping containers. The outlet quoted lawyers for three of the men, who recounted that they were lied to after resisting being taken to Africa. However, they were then taken onto a plane in the early hours of the morning and then flown without their knowledge or consent.

Other countries have agreed to receive deportees, Kosovo being one of them. The country said in June it would take 50 deportees, adding that they would be "temporarily relocated" there as officials work on "their safe return to their home country."