About 15 Latin American deportees from the US arrive in Congo, lawyer says

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Around 15 people deported from the United States landed in Congo’s capital Kinshasa in the early hours of Friday, their lawyer said.

It was the latest example of the Trump administration using agreements with African countries to accelerate migrant removals.

The deportees are all from Latin America and the Congolese government plans to keep them in the country for a short period, U.S. attorney Alma David told The Associated Press.

All the deportees received legal protection from U.S. judges shielding them against being returned to their home countries, David said. They are currently staying at a hotel in Kinshasa, she added.

An official at the Congolese migration agency confirmed the arrivals but didn’t provide details.

Congo’s Ministry of Communications said in a statement earlier this month that it will receive some migrants as part of a new deal under the Trump administration’s third-country program.

It described the arrangement as a “temporary” one that reflects Congo’s “commitment to human dignity and international solidarity.” It would come with zero costs to the government with the U.S. covering the needed logistics, it said.

The U.S. has struck such third-country deportation deals with at least seven other African nations, many of them among countries hit the most by the Trump administration’s policies that have restricted trade, aid and migration.

The Associated Press