U.S. Warns Undocumented Migrants of Deportation to Third Countries: The Grim Destinations Awaiting Them

The shocking murder of a motel manager in Dallas by Cuban national Yordanis Cobos-Martínez has been leveraged by former President Donald Trump and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to intensify their rhetoric against illegal immigration. This incident is being used to justify a severe measure: deporting undocumented individuals to countries other than their homeland. In June, the Supreme Court upheld this policy, paving the way for hundreds of migrants, including Cubans refused by Havana, to be sent to nations where isolation, violence, or imprisonment awaits them.

Fear-Inducing Destinations

In a recent statement, the DHS outlined potential destinations for migrants like Cobos:

Eswatini: The last absolute monarchy in Africa, ruled by King Mswati III since 1986. It's a poor nation lacking free political parties, where protests are violently suppressed. For a Cuban, banishment to Eswatini means being cast into an unfamiliar corner of the world, devoid of support networks and under a repressive regime.

Uganda: Criticized by international organizations for systematic human rights violations and minority persecution. The country symbolizes state oppression, where migrants risk becoming invisible and vulnerable to abuses.

South Sudan: A nation ravaged by civil war, famine, and one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. Being sent there equates to a sentence of destitution, with no cultural ties or realistic chance of rebuilding one's life.

CECOT (El Salvador): The maximum-security mega-prison constructed by Nayib Bukele, where thousands of gang members serve sentences under extreme conditions. Migrants with criminal records could be transferred to this facility, essentially disappearing into a prison feared even within Latin America.

Cubans Caught in Legal Limbo

Cuba persistently refuses to accept its citizens with serious criminal records, leaving dozens of undocumented Cubans trapped in legal limbo. Under Trump's administration, this void is being filled with destinations that resemble a nightmare.

There's already a precedent. In July, a Cuban convicted of first-degree murder and linked to the Latin Kings gang was deported to Eswatini alongside four other migrants labeled by the DHS as "depraved monsters." The individual now endures isolation in an African prison, far from family and without assurance of repatriation.

Human rights organizations warn that this practice violates fundamental principles of international protection by exposing individuals to contexts of violence, extreme poverty, and repression.

A Human Face to Policy

For Cuban migrants, the threat is not merely deportation but exile to places devoid of familial or community ties. Many arrived in the U.S. seeking refuge from the island's crisis; now they face the possibility of being sent to regions where survival is uncertain and dignity is nonexistent.

The case of Cobos has become a political catalyst, yet the measure does not differentiate between violent criminals and those who simply crossed the border irregularly. The outcome remains the same: the risk of a Cuban being uprooted from their life in the U.S. to end up in a cell in El Salvador or lost in an African country where no one speaks their language or shares their history.