DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Fifteen Latin Americans have been sent by the Trump administration to the Democratic Republic of Congo, placing them in an unknown nation far from their homelands — with many having U.S. judicial protections against removal to their native countries.
The Associated Press conducted a phone interview with a 29-year-old woman from Colombia regarding her ordeal. She requested anonymity due to concerns about potential retaliation.
The following are key points from the AP’s reporting.
Each of the individuals removed had received judicial protections from American judges preventing their deportation to their countries of origin, stated U.S. attorney Alma David, representing several of them. The woman from Colombia had been granted safeguards under the U.N. Convention Against Torture in May 2025, following a federal court determination that returning her to Colombia would be unsafe due to threats from militant organizations and mistreatment by a former partner in government.
Despite these protections, she was apprehended during a standard U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement appointment this year and informed that an alternative nation had been identified for her placement. In under three weeks, she found herself aboard an aircraft — with restraints on her hands and feet during an approximately 24-hour charter journey. She discovered her destination was Congo just one day prior to takeoff.
A recent federal court decision determined the government likely violated legal statutes by removing another Colombian individual to Congo. The implications for the remaining cases are uncertain.
The current administration has negotiated agreements with no fewer than eight African nations to receive individuals who are not citizens of those countries — persons whose native nations refuse their return or who possess judicial safeguards against repatriation. Immigration law specialists indicate these arrangements serve as an effective workaround in U.S. immigration statutes.
The specifics of Congo’s agreement remain unknown. Unlike other participating nations that have received substantial financial payments, the Congolese leader has characterized it as an “act of goodwill,” without monetary exchange. This arrangement occurs while Washington has applied pressure on neighboring Rwanda regarding its backing of the M23 rebel faction in eastern Congo — a situation experts suggest may explain Kinshasa’s willingness to cooperate.
The Department of Homeland Security declined to address inquiries about the Colombian woman’s situation but has maintained the agreements “ensure due process under the U.S. Constitution.” The Trump administration contends they are necessary to “remove criminal illegal aliens.”
The International Organization for Migration, affiliated with the U.N., has a primary function in overseeing the deportees’ circumstances in Kinshasa. They reside in small buildings at a hotel close to the airport, with expenses paid by Congo’s government, the IOM reported. The entrances are secured and guards prevent unaccompanied departures, the Colombian woman explained.
Those removed may venture out approximately weekly, escorted by IOM personnel, with roughly 30 minutes for shopping or accessing funds. “They determine our destinations and purchases,” the woman stated.
The IOM has also outlined available choices to deportees: return to their native countries — where many encounter the persecution they escaped — with IOM support, or stay in Congo without assistance. Her legal representative, Alma David, termed these “impossible choices,” asserting the removals breached due process protections, U.S. immigration statutes, and international agreements.
The individuals arrived with three-month Congolese entry permits. The consequences when these documents expire remain uncertain. They have been informed they may seek asylum in Congo — a path none have pursued.
The woman reports feeling unsafe in her current location. The local cuisine has caused illness among several individuals. French and Lingala languages are as unfamiliar as their new environment. She remains mostly confined to her quarters, placing late-evening calls to her 10-year-old daughter in Colombia.
Human rights organizations in Congo have denounced the arrangement as a breach of international refugee protections. The Congo-based Institute for Human Rights Research characterized it as “arbitrary detention by proxy for the United States.”
The woman, who operated a dessert business in Colombia before her departure, maintains she committed no violations and simply sought safety in the United States. Instead, she remains trapped in a nation she had never known existed, with no clear timeframe or resolution.
