Migrants Deported from US to South Sudan Say They Were Misled

(JUBA) – Eight foreign nationals from Asia and Latin America were recently deported from the United States to South Sudan in a highly controversial operation that has raised legal and human rights concerns.

According to a report by The Intercept, the individuals were allegedly deceived by American immigration officials about the nature and destination of their transfer, being told they were only being moved from Texas to Louisiana, when in fact they were being sent thousands of kilometres across the world to East Africa.

The deportation reportedly took place in May, beginning with a stopover in Djibouti, where the men were held for several weeks in harsh conditions, including confinement in shipping containers and being shackled. They were eventually flown to South Sudan, arriving over the weekend.

Lawyers representing three of the men said their clients resisted boarding a flight to Africa, unaware of the actual destination. However, the deportation was carried out in the early hours of the morning without their informed consent, following a failed legal appeal. Two U.S. federal judges dismissed a last minute effort by immigration rights advocates to stop their removal.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has defended the operation.

In a statement published on its website, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin described the deportation as “a win for rule of law, safety and security of the American people.” She went on to describe the men as “barbaric criminal illegal aliens,” adding that “these sickos were finally deported to South Sudan on Independence Day.”

McLaughlin claimed that some of the deportees were so violent that even their countries of origin had previously refused to accept them. Among the eight deported are individuals from Laos, Myanmar, Sudan and Vietnam, alongside two Cuban nationals and a Mexican national.

The Cuban nationals,  Enrique Arias-Hierro and José Manuel Rodríguez-Quiñones,  reportedly had long criminal records in Florida. The Mexican national, Jesús Muñoz Gutiérrez, had been convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.

The decision to send these men to South Sudan, a country still facing conflict and instability, has sparked outcry among human rights organisations and immigration advocates. South Sudanese civil society groups and international observers have raised concerns about the risks facing the deportees, especially considering that even the U.S. State Department warns its citizens against all travel to South Sudan.

Trina Realmuto, an attorney with the National Immigration Litigation Alliance, told CBS News:

“The U.S. State Department warns Americans against all travel to South Sudan, yet deported these men there without any due process. Make no mistake about it, these deportations were punitive and unconstitutional.”

In response to these criticisms, the U.S. Justice Department has claimed that South Sudan provided “credible diplomatic assurances” guaranteeing the deportees would not be tortured or harmed.