U.S. Plans to Deport Migrants to South Sudan Amid Rising Tensions

The U.S. government is seeking to deport a group of eight migrants to South Sudan, a nation currently facing the threat of civil conflict.

These individuals, originating from countries such as Vietnam, Cuba, and Mexico, are reportedly being held at a U.S. military facility located in Djibouti, East Africa, following a federal court ruling that prohibits their transfer to South Sudanese authorities.

While U.S. immigration laws permit, under certain conditions, the deportation of people to third countries, such cases have traditionally been infrequent.

The current administration is pursuing a broader strategy that could involve deporting significant numbers of people to high-risk locations—including South Sudan, Libya, or a maximum-security prison in El Salvador—often bypassing established due process, even when their native countries are prepared to accept them.

A legal expert notes that the combination of deporting to third countries, the intended scale of these actions, and an apparent punitive intent represents an unprecedented approach in immigration enforcement.

Observers suggest that the administration’s broader objective may be to influence immigrant behavior by instilling fear through these deportation policies.