Key facts
- A Laotian citizen, Phone Chomsavanh, was released from an Eswatini prison on Sunday after being held for over 14 months.
- Chomsavanh was deported from the U.S. to Eswatini in July 2025 under the Trump administration's third-country deportation program.
- He was among five immigrants deported to Eswatini, a country with which he has no ties.
- Chomsavanh had served his sentence for serious crimes in the U.S. before being sent to Eswatini.
- His lawyer stated that Chomsavanh was held in Eswatini without being charged with a crime.
- Eswatini received $5.1 million from the Trump administration to accept deportees under this program.
Phone Chomsavanh, a Laotian citizen who had no ties to Eswatini, was released from a maximum-security prison in the African nation on Sunday, his lawyer confirmed. He had been held there for over 14 months after being deported from the United States under the Trump administration's controversial third-country deportation program.
Chomsavanh was among five immigrants sent to Eswatini in July 2025. His lawyer, Tin Thanh Nguyen, stated that Chomsavanh had completed his sentence for serious crimes in the U.S. before being transferred to Eswatini, where he was held without charge. The program, which has been criticized by rights groups, involves deporting individuals to countries where they have no connections, often in exchange for financial payments.
According to Human Rights First, around 500 immigrants have been deported to African countries under this program since it began. Eswatini reportedly received $5.1 million from the U.S. to accept deportees, with approximately 30 individuals sent there to date.
Legal challenges have been mounted against the program, with a U.S. appeals court previously ruling to halt it due to concerns about immigrants' ability to challenge deportation to third countries where they might face persecution. The U.S. Supreme Court has temporarily allowed the program to continue while it considers the case.