South American man facing ICE deportation to the Congo says he feels "like a person who has no value"

Key Points:

• Jose Yugar-Cruz, who sought asylum at the Arizona-Mexico border nearly two years ago, was denied asylum but granted a withholding of removal order in 2025, protecting him from deportation to his home country due to risk of torture or persecution.
• Despite this protection, Yugar-Cruz remained detained for over a year and now faces deportation to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a country he does not know, following a federal judge's ruling and the Trump administration's policy to expedite third-country deportations.
• The Trump administration has been pushing agreements with multiple countries, including the DRC, to accept third-country deportees, often bypassing legal protections and resulting in migrants being sent to countries where they may ultimately face repatriation or harm.
• Human rights advocates criticize these third-country deportations as punitive and an end run around legal protections, noting that deportees are often given no viable options and that these agreements are presented as temporary though most deportees eventually leave or are repatriated.
• Yugar-Cruz’s case highlights ongoing legal challenges, including a class-action lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security over third-country removals, with courts divided and the Supreme Court allowing deportations to continue despite claims of unlawful practices.