US deports 5 migrants from Asian, Caribbean nations to Eswatini

The CoreCivic, Inc. California City Immigration Processing Center stands in Kern County, California City, California on July 10, 2025. [AFP]

The United States deported five migrants from Asian and Caribbean countries to the small African kingdom of Eswatini, officials said Tuesday.

The deported migrants are nationals of Cuba, Jamaica, Laos, Vietnam and Yemen.

"These criminal illegal aliens are so uniquely barbaric that their home countries refused to take them back," the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) wrote on X.

They were convicted of violent crimes such as child rape and murder, according to DHS.

US President Donald Trump's administration has defended so-called third-country deportations as necessary since the home nations of some of those targeted for removal sometimes refuse to accept them.

The US Supreme Court in June paved the way for the Trump administration to resume deportations of undocumented migrants to countries that are not their own.

Washington deported eight other migrants to conflict-plagued South Sudan earlier this month.

US authorities have said that the eight men -- two from Cuba, two from Myanmar, and one each from Vietnam, Laos, Mexico and South Sudan -- are convicted violent criminals.

Eswatini, the last absolute monarchy in Africa, has been led by King Mswati III since 1986.

The 57-year-old ruler has been criticized for his lavish lifestyle and has faced accusations of human rights violations.

His country, formerly known as Swaziland, is landlocked by neighbors South Africa and Mozambique.

Trump campaigned for president last year promising to expel millions of undocumented migrants from the United States.

Since returning to the White House in January, he has taken a number of actions aimed at speeding up such deportations.