U.S. deports five men to African nation of Eswatini

The Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday sent five criminals to the small country of Eswatini in southern Africa after their home countries refused to take them back, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. All five men were convicted of violent crimes, including murder, homicide, and child rape. McLaughlin did not name the men. They are citizens of Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, Cuba, and Yemen, McLaughlin said on social media. Officials in Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland, had not publicly commented on the deportations by Wednesday morning.

Is there a precedent for these deportations? The U.S. Supreme Court late last month allowed the Trump administration to resume deporting migrants to countries that are not their home nations. Officials deported eight men to South Sudan earlier this month following the ruling. U.S. authorities have said they are seeking more deals with African nations to accept deportees.

Dig deeper: Read Josh Schumacher’s report about how the White House is trying to clean out the U.S. immigration system.