JOHANNESBURG — Eswatini has received four more third-country deportees from the United States, expanding a secretive Trump administration arrangement and bringing the total sent to the southern African kingdom to at least 19. The latest transfer shows Washington is still using Eswatini as a destination for deportees who are not being returned directly to their home countries, according to a Reuters report, March 12, 2026.
The newest group included two Somali nationals, one Sudanese national and one Tanzanian national, while Eswatini said it was engaging with their countries of origin. Some earlier deportees, however, remained imprisoned in Eswatini even after serving their sentences in the United States.
Eswatini deportation deal timeline: from five deportees to 19
The arrangement first surfaced publicly in July 2025, when Eswatini said it was holding five U.S. deportees in isolated prison units. Officials said that group included people from Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, Cuba and Yemen, and described the transfer as the result of months of high-level engagement with Washington.
By October, a second U.S. flight had delivered 10 more third-country deportees, raising the total to 15 and making clear that the Eswatini channel was not a one-off experiment. One Jamaican deportee from the first group was later repatriated, but several others remained in custody.
The financial side of the arrangement sharpened scrutiny, too. A Senate Foreign Relations Committee minority report released in February estimated the Trump administration had spent more than $40 million on third-country deportation arrangements through January 2026 and said Eswatini received $5.1 million under its deal with Washington.
Why the Eswatini deportation deal is drawing more scrutiny
The arrangement has also produced a legal fight inside Eswatini. In February, Eswatini’s High Court dismissed a challenge to the deal filed by human rights lawyers and activists, largely on standing grounds, though opponents appealed and continued to argue that the government had not been transparent about the agreement’s terms.
That leaves the program under pressure from two directions. U.S. officials continue to use it as part of a wider third-country deportation push, while lawyers and rights advocates keep asking what safeguards exist for people removed to a nation that is not their own and why some remain detained after completing U.S. sentences.
For now, the arithmetic is straightforward even if the policy is not: three batches, 19 deportees and an arrangement that keeps expanding. What began as a controversial July transfer has become an active part of Trump’s broader deportation strategy.
