Eswatini Requests $500 Million to Detain U.S. Deportees

The Government of Eswatini requested $500 million from the Trump administration to detain five men deported from the United States in July. The men, nationals of Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, Yemen, and Cuba, are currently imprisoned at the Matsapha Correctional Complex despite having no citizenship in Eswatini.

U.S. Homeland Security officials justified the third-country deportations by describing the men as "depraved monsters" and "so uniquely barbaric" that their home countries refused to accept them. These actions follow a Supreme Court decision allowing such deportations, with similar agreements in place for Rwanda, Uganda, and South Sudan. However, Jamaican Foreign Minister Kamina J Smith rejected these claims, stating that Jamaica has not refused the return of any of its nationals, including deportee Orville Etoria.

Legal representatives for the detainees allege they are being held illegally and are being denied private consultations. Eswatini officials claimed they were blindsided by the flights and intend to repatriate the men, while local NGOs have challenged the legality of the arrangement on constitutional grounds, arguing that the Eswatini parliament was not consulted.