DHS deports Iranian activist and migrants to Central African Republic despite court orders

A U.S. deportation flight carrying at least two dozen migrants — from Iran, Jordan, Armenia, Turkey, Georgia, and Afghanistan — landed in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, on June 12, 2026. AP, Le Monde, Reuters, and CBS News all confirmed the arrival. The migrants had no legal connection to CAR and were sent there under a third-country deportation agreement the Trump administration negotiated with the Touadera government.

Among those deported was an Iranian pro-democracy activist who held a 'withholding of removal' order from a U.S. immigration court — a legal protection preventing deportation to countries where the person faces persecution. Her immigration attorney Emily Trostle told Reuters the transfer was 'super dangerous' and that her client was being abandoned in a country where she has no status, no connection, and no support network. Prism News and CBS News covered her individual case.

The State Department maintains a Level 4 'Do Not Travel' advisory for the Central African Republic — its highest warning level — because of armed conflict, violent crime, and political instability. The advisory instructs Americans in CAR to draft a will, establish 'proof of life' protocols with relatives, and leave DNA samples with medical providers for identification purposes. CBS News and ABC News reported that the State Department's own travel guidance described CAR as one of the world's most dangerous countries.

Christian Jové Ehrhardt, a deputy assistant secretary in the State Department Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, led a U.S. delegation that visited Bangui on May 18, 2026, to negotiate the third-country deportation arrangement with CAR officials. Reuters reported the delegation's May 18 visit and identified Jové Ehrhardt as the U.S. negotiator. The agreement was announced publicly on June 7, 2026.

The International Organization for Migration was contracted to provide post-arrival assistance to deportees in CAR. Reuters reported a U.S. government grant to IOM for this purpose, framing the voluntary assistance as a humanitarian component of the arrangement. IOM assistance was described as optional and voluntary for deportees who arrived in a country where they had no legal status.

Le Monde reported that the deportation flight carried approximately 20 foreign nationals and identified nationals from Iran, Turkey, Syria, and Afghanistan among those sent to CAR. Le Monde's Africa bureau reported two Iranian women were among the deportees. The flight originated in Louisiana and transited through Accra, Ghana before arriving in Bangui.

Third-country deportation deals have historically been used when a person's home country refuses to accept them. Using the authority to send people to countries with no connection to the deportees — particularly those with U.S. court protections — is a significant expansion of executive deportation power.

Withholding of removal is a narrower form of protection than asylum but still bars deportation to a country where the individual faces persecution or torture. Immigration attorneys argued the U.S. government violated court orders by sending the Iranian activist to CAR, because withholding orders apply to any country, not just the home country — meaning the transfer to CAR was itself a violation of the immigration court's protection order.

The CAR agreement is one of at least nine similar deals the Trump administration negotiated with African and Latin American nations to accept third-country deportees. CBS News reported that CAR was among the latest countries to accept migrants with no connection to the destination. Prior agreements had been negotiated with countries including El Salvador and Rwanda, establishing a pattern of outsourcing removal to willing third parties.

Faustin-Archange Touadera, president of the Central African Republic since 2016, signed the third-country deportation agreement with the United States. CAR's government has long relied on Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group for security, making the country an unusual partner for a U.S. foreign policy agreement. Reuters identified Touadera's government as the signing party on the CAR side.

Human rights organizations including the ACLU and UNHCR criticized the deportations as potentially violating U.S. obligations under the Convention Against Torture and the 1951 Refugee Convention, both of which prohibit returning individuals to places where they face serious harm. ABC News and Al Jazeera reported rights group reactions to the flight.