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ICE deports Afghans and others to Africa, expanding "third country" deportations

By Camilo Montoya-Galvez

August 30, 2026 / 9:46 AM EDT / CBS News

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Over a 10-day period, the Trump administration sent more than 100 deportees from Afghanistan, Cuba, Nicaragua and other nations to eight countries across Africa, expanding its "third country" deportation campaign, according to internal U.S. government documents obtained by CBS News.

Three Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation flights, the government documents show, dropped off dozens of men and women expelled from the U.S. in Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Liberia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone.

None of the deportees were from the countries where they were deported, according to the documents. In addition to Afghans, Cubans and Nicaraguans, the ICE flights over the past week and a half included deportees from Iran, Nepal, Turkey and Venezuela, as well as African detainees who are not from the nations where they were sent.

The federal documents, which have not been previously reported on, offer a window into the Trump administration's intensifying campaign to use "third country" deportation agreements to banish groups of deportees to far-flung countries where they have no ties.

More than 30 countries across the globe have agreed to receive such deportations from the U.S., including some in Latin America like Costa Rica, Panama and Paraguay. But a growing number of African countries have brokered third-country deportation deals with the Trump administration, including nations like the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan, plagued by armed conflict, political tumult and human rights abuses.

The international agreements have largely been shrouded in secrecy, but it appears some countries, like Ghana and Sierra Leone, have only agreed to accept deportees from other places in Africa. Countries like Eswatini, the Central African Republic and Liberia have received detainees from Latin America, Europe and Asia.

Some of those deported to Africa by the Trump administration have criminal records in addition to immigration violations, including the detainees sent to Eswatini and South Sudan, where officials have imprisoned deportees convicted of violent and serious crimes in the U.S. But many of the deportees sent to other countries lack any criminal histories, beyond entering the U.S. illegally or not having the proper documents to stay in the country.

The latest of three ICE flights to Africa dropped off detainees in Sierra Leone and the Central African Republic, where longstanding armed conflict and Russian mercenaries have made the landlocked country one of the most dangerous in the world. A "Level 4" U.S. State Department advisory warns Americans to avoid traveling there for any reason, given widespread violence and insecurity.

CBS News reached out to the Departments of Homeland Security and State seeking comment on the deportations to Africa.

"If an illegal alien chooses to file a claim in court refusing to go to their home country, we are required by law to find a safe and secure nation for them to go to. If an illegal alien chooses to go home, we will give them a free flight home and a $3,000 check," DHS said in a statement to CBS News on Sunday. "The choice is theirs."

Among those deported to the Central African Republic on the most recent flight was an Afghan man whose family helped American forces fight the Taliban and who won legal protection in a U.S. immigration court, according to his lawyer and brother.

Khalil, the 24-year-old Afghan deportee, crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally in 2024, after traveling across Latin America, according to his immigration lawyer. He was held by ICE in custody during his entire time in the U.S. His immigration lawyer said Khalil came to join his brothers, one of whom was brought to the U.S. in 2014 because of his work alongside American military forces while in the Afghan Army. Legal documents indicate another of Khalil's brothers fought the Taliban as a pilot and was killed during the war.

In August 2025, while detained, Khalil was granted a legal protection, known as "withholding of removal," by a U.S. immigration judge who found he could face persecution in Afghanistan, legal documents show. He did not get asylum, a more permanent legal protection, because of a Biden-era policy that disqualified asylum-seekers who failed to seek protection in other countries before reaching American soil, according to the documents.

While that protection barred ICE from returning Khalil to Afghanistan, it did not legally prevent his deportation to a third country. And the Trump administration has increasingly sought to deport those who've won limited protections in immigration court, like withholding of removal, to third countries.

"The goal is to obliterate the global refugee protection system, and his case should serve as a warning of the unconscionable consequences," said Alma David, Khalil's immigration lawyer. CBS News is not disclosing Khalil's surname due to concerns from his family that he or relatives could be targeted by the Taliban.

Zachary Schmidt, an active-duty Marine colonel who supervised Khalil's brother during his deployment to Afghanistan, said he's concerned about Khalil's safety in the conflict-ridden Central African Republic and the prospect that he could be returned to his homeland. He said he's seen threats made by Taliban militants against Khalil's family.

"It is my belief that if Khalil gets sent back to Afghanistan, that he will be killed," Schmidt told CBS News, speaking in his personal capacity.

Schmidt, who testified in Khalil's immigration court case, noted the U.S. made a "deal" with Afghans who agreed to aid the American war effort in Afghanistan.

"The deal is that if you help us, and help rebuild your country, we will look out for you. We'll help you and your family," Schmidt said. "We have to keep that promise."

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