Eswatini is detaining five U.S. deportees under a secret deal with the Trump administration after demanding millions of dollars, sparking rights concerns and repatriation disputes.
A tiny African nation is holding five immigrants deported from the United States under a controversial agreement with the Trump administration, which Eswatini officials said included requests for millions of dollars.
Documents reviewed by The New York Times show Eswatini once sought $500 million to detain deportees and later offered to hold 150 others for $10 million. The men, including Jamaican national Orville Etoria—who served a U.S. prison sentence but faces no charges in Eswatini—remain jailed nearly two months after arrival.
Eswatini officials said the detainees “will be repatriated,” with the UN assisting, while activists in the country challenge what they call an unconstitutional secret deal. Homeland Security labeled the men “depraved monsters,” but Jamaican authorities insist they are cooperating on repatriations.
Rights groups warn deportees face torture in third countries. The case marks the first of such deportations after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling enabled removals to nations with poor human rights records.