Overview

• Five men from Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, Cuba and Yemen with serious criminal convictions arrived in Eswatini on Tuesday under a secretive bilateral agreement
• Eswatini’s acting government spokesperson said the deportees are held in isolated prison units and will be sent home with assistance from the International Organization for Migration
• A June Supreme Court decision lifted a lower-court injunction and cleared the way for deportations to countries where migrants hold no citizenship without contesting potential harm
• An ICE memo signed July 9 by acting director Todd Lyons allows removals with as little as six hours’ notice in emergencies, though officers generally provide 24 hours
• Rights advocates have filed legal challenges arguing the policy breaches non-refoulement obligations and denies migrants meaningful notice to seek protection