US secretly deports migrants to Cameroon despite court protections
The United States has quietly deported nine migrants to Cameroon under a secret arrangement, including individuals who had already been granted legal protection by US courts prohibiting their return.
According to a report by The New York Times, the group was flown from Alexandria to Cameroon on January 14, without being informed of their destination until they were handcuffed and placed in chains aboard a Department of Homeland Security aircraft.
None of the deportees are Cameroonian citizens, and US authorities have not disclosed any public agreement with Yaoundé to accept third-country deportees.
Cameroon’s government has also declined to comment on the reported arrangement.
Several of the migrants had received removal protections from US immigration judges after demonstrating they would likely face persecution, imprisonment, or violence if returned home.
Lawyers representing them say most have since been detained at a compound in Cameroon’s capital and told they cannot leave unless they agree to return to their countries of origin.
Some of the deportees told the newspaper that they fled war and political persecution. They described the transfer as traumatic and said they were given no meaningful opportunity to challenge their removal to Cameroon.
The deportations appear to be the first of their kind to Cameroon and are part of a broader Trump administration effort to secure agreements with foreign governments — often through undisclosed negotiations and reported financial incentives — to accept migrants the United States seeks to remove.
A recent report by Democratic staff on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said, Washington has spent more than $40 million on third-country deportation arrangements, describing the deals as murky and lacking transparency.
Human rights advocates argue the policy effectively circumvents US court protections and risks exposing vulnerable migrants to renewed danger, potentially violating domestic and international asylum obligations.
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