The Trump administration has been deporting immigrants to random countries, and they couldn’t be more proud. On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security’s Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin boasted on X that “a safe third country deportation flight to Eswatini in Southern Africa has landed,” with 5 immigrants aboard. “This flight took individuals so uniquely barbaric that their home countries refused to take them back,” she wrote. “These depraved monsters have been terrorizing American communities but thanks to Trump and [Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem], they are off of American soil.” To back up the assertion, McLaughlin posted some photos of the alleged barbarians, along with their criminal convictions. Of course, their names are not provided, so as per usual, there’s no way to fact check the now-standard assertion that the people being deported are the very worst of the worst.  King Mswati III of Eswatini Similarly, when the Trump administration deported immigrants to South Sudan, McLaughlin made an almost identical statement, saying that it was necessary because “no country on earth wanted to accept them because their crimes were so uniquely barbaric.” Just as the Trump administration decided it was fine to deport people to South Sudan despite warning people not to travel there because it’s too dangerous, it’s also content to ignore government reports on the human rights crisis in Eswatini.  The State Department’s 2023 report found “significant human rights issues” in Eswatini, including torture by the government, extrajudicial killings, lack of independence of the judiciary, trafficking, and child labor. Of course, neither immigrants nor their lawyers have any idea what exactly they will endure, but the report detailed overcrowding, nutrition deficiencies, lack of health services equipment, and gang violence in Eswatini’s prisons.  A spokesperson for the Eswatini government confirmed that the 5 immigrants are imprisoned in “isolated units” and that both Eswatini and the U.S. government will work with the United Nations to “facilitate the transit” of the men to their countries of origin.  It’s not entirely clear what that means, as it makes it sound like somehow the Trump administration deported people to Eswatini only to work jointly with that country to eventually send them home. Of course, that does not at all seem like the intent. According to a report from The New York Times report last month, the Trump administration has explored these trafficking arrangements with dozens of countries, many beset by violence, poverty, and human rights abuses. And of the 58 countries the administration has approached, many are covered by or are being considered for President Donald Trump’s latest travel ban.  Related | Rubio callously revokes visas for entire country over US mistake So it’s too dangerous to allow people from those countries into the United States, but it’s totally safe and cool to send people to their prisons. And in case countries were on the fence, the State Department told diplomats that these countries could possibly evade the travel ban if they take deportees.  We can expect much more of these blatant human rights violations, thanks to the Supreme Court blocking a lower court order requiring immigrants to have a reasonable chance to challenge their deportations. Now, people can be deported to any random country of Trump’s liking with as little as 6 hours’ notice.  The conservatives on the Supreme Court knew full well that their decision would open the floodgates to these evil actions. They just don’t care. Read more