US deportees arrive in South Sudan – foreign ministry official

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer listens during a briefing, Jan. 27, 2025, in Silver Spring, Md. FILE PHOTO/Associated Press

JUBA, South Sudan — A group of eight criminal migrants, deported from the United States and stranded for weeks at a military base in Djibouti, arrived in South Sudan on Saturday, a foreign ministry official told AFP.

Only one of the deportees is from South Sudan but the administration of US President Donald Trump has sought to remove unwanted migrants to third countries as other nations sometimes refuse to accept returnees.

The Department of Homeland Security issued a statement describing the eight men as “barbaric, violent criminal illegal aliens” with convictions for murder, sexual assault and robbery.

READ: US deports South Asians to South Sudan despite court order

The rest of the group comprises two people from Myanmar, two from Cuba, and one person each from Vietnam, Laos and Mexico.

They initially left the United States for South Sudan in May but their flight ended up in Djibouti when a US district court imposed a stay on third-country deportations.

That ruling was overturned by the Supreme Court on Thursday.

“They arrived in Juba as early as 5:00 am today from Djibouti,” the South Sudanese official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

He said they had been brought by US Marines but provided no other details.

READ: US Supreme Court allows third country deportations to resume

“These sickos were finally deported to South Sudan on Independence Day,” said US Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin of Homeland Security in the statement.

“After weeks of delays by activist judges that put our law enforcement in danger, ICE deported these eight barbaric criminal illegal aliens who are so heinous even their own countries will not accept them,” she added.

South Sudan is one of the world’s poorest countries and in the midst of renewed violent political instability.

Trump campaigned for president promising to expel millions of undocumented migrants from the United States. He has taken a number of actions aimed at speeding up deportations since returning to the White House in January. /dl