Is it deportation or exile? Five men from Vietnam, Jamaica, Cuba, Yemen and Laos — convicted of serious crimes — were flown not to their home countries but to Eswatini, a tiny African kingdom run by a king who holds absolute power.
The administration says their crimes were so barbaric their home countries wouldn’t even take them back — so they shipped them to a nation where political parties are banned, pro-democracy activists assassinated and the king lives in gold-plated luxury while most people live on $4 a day in poverty.
Eswatini says it’s just holding the five men in transit but gave no further timeline.
Even immigration lawyers are asking what was promised in exchange — foreign aid, tariff breaks or visa deals?
Under a new ICE memo, people can be sent to third countries with as little as six hours’ notice.
