U.S. Deports Protected Refugees to Equatorial Guinea Amid Legal Loophole Concerns

A 28-year-old East African refugee in the U.S., whose asylum claim was denied but who was legally protected from being returned home, was told by a judge he could leave detention in California. Instead, he was deported to Equatorial Guinea, part of a secretive U.S. program sending migrants to third countries. He and 28 others, mostly from African nations, faced harsh detention conditions and coercion before being flown to Malabo. Legal experts say these deportations circumvent protections designed to prevent refugees from being sent to danger. ICE and DHS officials maintain that all deportees received due process.

When a 28-year-old refugee from East Africa appeared before a U.S. immigration judge in California after spending 13 months in detention, he was told that he was free to leave. The ruling brought him immense relief because, although his request for asylum had been denied, the judge determined that sending him back to his home country would put his life at risk. “He told me: ‘Welcome to the U.S.,’” the refugee told The Associated Press, which reviewed his legal documents. “You are now protected by U.S. law, so you can leave the center, work, and stay in this country.”
Despite the judge’s ruling, he was never released. Instead, he was later handcuffed and placed on a flight to Equatorial Guinea, a country in West Africa that had signed a secretive deal with the Trump administration to serve as a transit hub for deported migrants. The refugee, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, explained that he fled his home country after suffering severe abuse, including beatings, persecution, and imprisonment, all because of his ethnicity.
He is one of 29 individuals deported to Equatorial Guinea. The first American pope, Leo XIV, who has publicly criticized the Trump administration’s treatment of migrants as “extremely disrespectful,” is scheduled to visit Equatorial Guinea in April. At least seven African nations have entered into agreements with the U.S. to facilitate the deportation of third-country nationals, a process legal experts describe as a loophole that allows the U.S. to bypass protections meant to prevent refugees from being returned to dangerous situations. Most of the deportees had previously received legal protections from U.S. judges that should have prevented their return to their home countries, according to their attorneys.
Meredyth Yoon, litigation director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice, who has assisted deportees sent to Equatorial Guinea, explained that the U.S. is using third-country deportations to bypass laws that forbid sending individuals to places where their life or freedom would be threatened. She verified key aspects of the 28-year-old refugee’s story. “Once deported, these individuals face impossible alternatives: indefinite detention without access to counsel, or forced deportation to the very countries they fled from,” she said.
The 29 deportees sent to Equatorial Guinea included nationals from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Mauritania, Angola, Congo, Chad, Georgia, Ghana, and Nigeria, according to a visiting lawyer who requested anonymity. The lawyer said that authorities had not permitted him to see most of the deportees.
The refugee said he was deported in January. Prior to his removal, he reported that ICE agents pressured him to sign a document claiming he wished to return to his home country voluntarily. The agents were reportedly surprised that he could read, with one stating: “I never knew Black people could read and write.” When he refused to sign, he was transferred to Arizona, where he spent five months in a windowless room alongside several other detainees. He described the facility as having poor hygiene and limited access to medical care. “One guy in my room became crazy and started shouting and hitting himself because he wanted to go home,” he said.
Although his asylum claim was denied, the refugee had been granted protection under U.S. law and the UN Convention Against Torture, which prevented him from being returned to his home country but allowed removal to a third country deemed safe. “All the people told me that we are going back to Africa,” he recalled. “I needed to speak with my lawyer, but these ICE officers started using force, they started beating me.”
Following transfers through California, Texas, and Louisiana, he was handcuffed and taken to an airport in the middle of the night. On the chartered flight, he was placed among other deportees. Upon arrival, he discovered that he had been taken to Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson stated that ICE officers “did NOT beat, coerce, or use racial slurs” against the refugee. The spokesperson emphasized that he was considered “an illegal alien,” processed through expedited removal, and sent to Equatorial Guinea. They also asserted that all individuals deported to Equatorial Guinea had received due process and had a final order of removal.