Eswatini receives fourth batch of US deportees

The United States deported at least nine people to Eswatini on Wednesday, according to an American immigration lawyer and local sources.

Alma David, a US immigration attorney familiar with some of the deportees’ cases, said 11 people were sent. A local source put the number at nine. The nationalities of the deportees remain unclear. Officials are expected to process the new arrivals on Thursday morning, when their nationalities will be confirmed.

Eswatini has received 19 US deportees since July 2025. Two of them, a Jamaican and a Cambodian, have since been repatriated. The remaining 17 are held in a high-security prison.

A government source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said an official convoy had been sent to the main international airport to receive the deportees.

The deportations are part of a broader US immigration policy under the Trump administration to send undocumented migrants to third countries. Several African nations, including Eswatini, Ghana and the Democratic Republic of Congo, have signed agreements to accept deportees.

Eswatini’s government has not commented on the latest arrivals. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not respond to a request for comment.

While Eswatini has held some deportees for extended periods, Ghana has repatriated deportees quickly to their countries of origin.

SOURCE: AFP