Court rules in favor of 4 men deported to Africa, denied lawyer meetings for 9 months

Key Points:

• The Supreme Court of Eswatini ruled that four men deported from the U.S. under the Trump administration's third-country deportation program can finally meet with a local lawyer after being denied in-person legal counsel for nine months.
• The men, from Cuba, Yemen, Laos, and Vietnam, have been held in a maximum-security prison without charges in Eswatini, which has been criticized for suppressing pro-democracy movements and limiting detainees' rights.
• The U.S. government paid Eswatini $5.1 million to accept deportees, part of a broader program involving at least eight African countries, which has faced criticism for potentially violating deportees' legal rights in countries with questionable human rights records.
• Critics and lawyers argue the deportees' detention in Eswatini is illegal since they have not been charged with crimes locally, and the lengthy legal battle to secure their right to counsel highlights the challenges faced by deportees under this program.
• The Trump administration spent at least $40 million to deport around 300 migrants to third countries, with many deals kept secret, raising concerns among U.S. lawmakers about the transparency and ethics of these arrangements.