A senior U.S. border official has admitted that the fate of eight migrants deported to South Sudan remains unclear, weeks after they were forcibly relocated under the Trump administration’s revived “third-country” deportation policy.
Tom Homan, a former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), told Politico on Friday that the men are no longer in U.S. custody. “As far as we’re concerned, they’re free. They’re in South Sudan,” Homan said. “Will they stay there? I don’t know.”
The eight men were deported in May 2025, despite only one of them having any documented connection to South Sudan, a country still grappling with the aftermath of a brutal civil war. The rest include two nationals each from Myanmar and Cuba, and one from Vietnam, Laos, and Mexico.
The deportation followed two rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court — one broadly upholding the legality of deporting migrants to third countries, and another specifically allowing the transfer of the eight men. After a temporary court-ordered halt, the group was held at a U.S. military base in Djibouti for several weeks before being flown to Juba.
South Sudanese authorities confirmed that the men are currently in the custody of “relevant institutions” and are being cared for. “We are ensuring their safety and well-being,” a government spokesperson told AFP earlier this week.
According to U.S. officials, all eight men had been convicted of violent crimes while in the United States. However, human rights advocates have criticized the move, warning of legal and ethical concerns, particularly in sending individuals to countries with no legal or cultural ties to them.
The controversial third-country deportation policy has drawn renewed attention under the Trump administration’s second term, raising alarm over its humanitarian and geopolitical implications — especially in fragile states like South Sudan.
