‘I’d rather die here than in Africa’: Migrants describe violent deportation flight

Key Points:

• Over 25,000 immigrants have been deported from the U.S. to third countries under a Trump administration program, including a recent deportation of 43 migrants to the Central African Republic (CAR), a nation plagued by civil war and instability.
• Some deportees, including asylum seekers and those protected from torture in their home countries, resisted being forcibly boarded onto flights, resulting in the use of pepper spray and restraints by immigration agents.
• The Central African Republic, where the migrants were sent, faces severe challenges such as ongoing conflict, disease outbreaks, crime, and limited resources, with deportees reportedly held under armed guard and deprived of identity documents.
• Human rights advocates criticize the program as placing vulnerable refugees in dangerous situations, noting that some deportees have been kidnapped or extorted after arrival, and their immigration status in CAR remains unclear.
• A federal appeals court recently paused the third-country deportation program, citing inadequate opportunities for migrants to challenge their removals, while the Trump administration plans to appeal to the Supreme Court to continue the policy.