Eight of the 15 Latin Americans who were sent to Congo in April as part of the Trump administration’s controversial immigration enforcement have now made their way back to their countries of origin, according to Congo’s government and legal representatives speaking Friday.
Federal immigration courts had previously determined these individuals would probably encounter persecution upon return to their home nations.
Congo represents one of no fewer than eight African countries that have entered into third-country deportation agreements with the United States.
Through a collection of frequently undisclosed agreements, the Trump administration has sent thousands of individuals to almost two dozen nations other than their countries of origin, according to advocacy groups. Legal experts in immigration law indicate the administration employs third-country deportations as a regulatory workaround to indirectly compel asylum seekers to return to their native countries.
Alma David, a U.S.-based attorney representing one of the 15 migrants, confirmed that eight deportees have traveled back to their home countries in recent weeks.
David’s client, a Colombian woman who had previously spoken with The Associated Press about her circumstances and uncertainty while in Congo, continues to remain in the central African nation, according to her lawyer.
Another Colombian, Adriana Maria Quiroz Zapata, also remains in Congo, despite a federal judge’s order last month directing the Trump administration to return her to the United States. She was sent to Congo even after that country had declined to accept her due to its inability to provide for her medical requirements.
Four individuals from Peru and three from Colombia traveled home earlier this week with assistance from the International Organization for Migration, a U.N.-affiliated agency, David reported.
Their return occurred through the IOM’s Assisted Voluntary Return program, where the organization covers transportation expenses and logistics for migrants who agree to return to their home countries, serving as an option instead of forced removal.
The attorney explained that these migrants had received court protections preventing their removal to their home countries by U.S. federal courts, which determined they would probably experience persecution upon return.
“The fact that they chose to return there anyway raises serious concerns that they likely felt backed into a corner because no viable alternative was presented to them,” David said.
The IOM has stated that assisted voluntary returns are “strictly voluntary and based on free, prior and informed consent.”
One Colombian man traveled back to his home country independently in recent days, David noted.
“These developments confirm the strictly transitional, temporary, and time-limited nature of this mechanism, as announced from its launch,” the Congolese government said in the statement. “Further departures will take place shortly as part of the implementation of the arrangement.”
This announcement coincides with rights attorneys filing a case against Equatorial Guinea before Africa’s leading human rights body, alleging the central African nation violated deportees’ rights by compelling them to return to their home countries from the U.S.
