World · Third-country deportationDocuments Show 100+ Deported to 8 African Countries in 10 DaysAired August 31, 2026 at 7:42 PM UTCWritten September 7, 2026 at 9:22 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00More than 100 people were flown to eight African countries in 10 days.0:03None of them were citizens of the countries that took them in, and many carried0:07legal protections against being returned to their home country at all.0:10Internal records name the destinations.0:12They do not name where the people aboard ended up.0:14Internal U.S.0:15government records describe three flights carrying more than 100 people in a single0:1910-day window.0:20The people aboard came from Afghanistan, Cuba, Nicaragua, Iran, Nepal, Turkey, and0:26Venezuela, along with African detainees who were also not from the states receiving0:30them.0:30The aggregate figure rests on internal records obtained by reporters, which neither0:34the Department of Homeland Security nor the State Department authenticated.0:38Both declined to confirm the numbers.0:40One flight inside that window is independently documented, on the ground, and by0:44multiple outlets.0:46On August 20, an Eastern Airlines flight announced as carrying 20 people under0:50Liberia's agreement to accept up to 1,200 in a year landed at Roberts International0:55Airport near Monrovia.0:56Liberian officials said 15 got off.0:59Five stayed aboard, three Cuban men, a Brazilian man, and a Cameroonian woman.1:04After more than five hours on the tarmac, they were flown onward to Equatorial1:08Guinea.1:09The Associated Press later put that onward group at six, telling reporters he did1:13not know what became of the rest in a country that was paid $5 million for migration1:18management.1:18The protection against returning to the home country does not, under current1:22practice, bar designating a different one, and the deals routing people there are1:27almost all executive-to-executive arrangements without Senate ratification.1:37Researchers tallied at least $44 million paid to third countries, on top of the1:42flights themselves.1:43A federal district court vacated the third country removal policy in February, but1:48an appeals court stayed that ruling pending review, so the policy remains in effect.1:52The U.S.1:52points to what it calls the choice: a free flight home with a $3,000 check or1:58placement somewhere.1:59The Central African Republic, one of the destinations, carries the State2:03Department's own highest warning.2:05Do not travel.2:06Khalil is a 24-year-old Afghan.2:09In August 2025, an immigration judge granted him withholding of removal, finding he2:14would likely face persecution in Afghanistan.2:17That protection did not stop his removal to the Central African Republic.2:21His attorney says the aim is to dismantle the global refugee protection system.2:25A retired Marine colonel, speaking personally, warned that if Khalil is returned to2:30Afghanistan, he will be killed.2:32Carlos Talez Sanchez, a 35-year-old Venezuelan from Texas, was deported to Liberia,2:38separated from his wife and their five-month-old U.S.2:40citizen son.2:41Cubans and an Eritrean were sent to Bengui.2:44In Eswatini, two dozen men are held in a maximum security prison with no local2:49charge.2:49Other accounts cite 19.2:51In Ghana and Cameroon groups documented chain refulment, people holding U.2:56S.2:56protection against return home deported onward again.2:58In Liberia, the government calls arrivals' guests and says they may apply for asylum3:03or leave, but journalists were not allowed to interview them and their names and3:06housing were never disclosed.3:08These flights are part of a campaign that has moved more than 23,000 people since3:12January 20, 2025, nearly 20,000 of them to Mexico, more than 2,700 to other parts3:18of Latin America and the Caribbean, and more than 330 to Africa.3:22The U.S.3:22government has published no flight dates, no per-flight counts, and no manifest.3:27The August 20 flight is independently corroborated.3:30The three-flight 100-plus package is not.3:32No verified killing or confirmed disappearance of a named person from this group has3:36been documented, though contact has been lost or blocked in several cases, and the3:40absence of proof is not proof of safety.3:43The administration calls the destinations safe and secure.3:46What remains genuinely open is what happened to the people it names that way, the3:50ones held in Eswatini and the ones in Liberia and Equatorial Guinea whose3:54whereabouts were never disclosed.Explore with HeyDexFollow via RSSThe shortThe short ↗