Eswatini Detains U.S. Deportees, Plans Their Repatriation Soon

• Jul 17, 2025

Eswatini has confirmed it is holding several deportees sent from the United States in prison and is working to repatriate them to their countries of origin.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced that a deportation flight had landed in Eswatini. The flight carried immigrants from five different countries, following a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that lifted restrictions on deporting migrants to countries that are not their own.

Eswatini, a small landlocked country in southern Africa, was used as a transit destination in this case. The deported individuals were not citizens of Eswatini, but the country temporarily accepted them under arrangements made with the United States.

Authorities in Eswatini say the deportees are currently being held in prison facilities while efforts are underway to send them to their respective home countries. Details about the exact number of people involved or the specific countries they are originally from have not been made public.

The decision by the U.S. Supreme Court has significantly expanded the American government’s deportation powers, allowing it to remove undocumented immigrants to third countries when their home nations either cannot be identified or refuse to accept them. This shift has caused concern among human rights advocates who argue that deporting migrants to countries where they have no ties could put them at risk.

The U.S. government has defended the move, stating it is part of a broader effort to manage illegal immigration and ensure that individuals who do not qualify for protection under U.S. laws are removed. The Department of Homeland Security said this was the first such flight since the ruling.

Eswatini has said it is not offering asylum or permanent residency to the deportees and is only holding them temporarily. Government officials stressed that arrangements are being made with the respective embassies of the migrants' countries to return them as soon as possible.

As global migration policies continue to shift, the case highlights the growing complexity of international cooperation on deportations and refugee management.