Key facts
- At least 40 migrants granted US legal protection for LGBT status were deported to third African countries.
- These countries criminalize same-sex relations or are hostile to LGBT people.
- Migrants faced further persecution, detention, or are now in hiding.
- The US government stated it does not enforce law based on sexual orientation and that third-country removals are an essential public safety tool.
- The Supreme Court has put a hold on a ruling that challenged the policy, allowing deportations to continue.
The Trump administration deported dozens of migrants who had been granted US legal protection due to persecution for their LGBT status to third countries in Africa that criminalize same-sex relations or are described as hostile to LGBT people, according to a Reuters investigation. These deportations, enabled by deals with foreign governments, have forced individuals into situations where they face the very persecution they sought to escape.
Of the 40 documented cases, 16 remain in the countries they were deported to, some still detained, while another 16 were sent back to their home countries against their will. Nine are in hiding in other locations, and one individual is no longer in contact with legal or family support.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) stated that it does not enforce the law based on sexual orientation and that third-country removals are an essential public safety tool. However, critics argue that sending people to countries where they face persecution makes a mockery of protection systems. US District Judge Brian Murphy had previously called the government's claim that targeted individuals had not explicitly asked not to be deported to repressive countries an "absurdity." The Supreme Court has since put a hold on Murphy's ruling, allowing the administration to continue these deportations while it considers the case.
The 40 cases involve deportations to Sierra Leone, Cameroon, and Eswatini, where same-sex acts are criminalized, as well as to the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the State Department has documented abuses against LGBT people. Many of these individuals were not eligible for asylum in the US because they did not apply for it in transit countries, a restriction that a federal court later vacated. Abdou Latifou, one of the deportees, was sent to Sierra Leone, then back to Togo, and is now living in Ivory Coast, avoiding his own community due to rising homophobic violence.