A federal appeals court this month upheld a ruling that found aspects of the administration’s third-country deportation policy unlawful.
US defends deportation policy
Immigration advocates say the Trump administration has reached at least 35 agreements with countries in Africa, Latin America and elsewhere to accept deportees, according to Third Country Deportation Watch. Because of her sexuality, after arriving in the US, Aylin was granted withholding of removal, a form of legal protection that recognised the danger she could face if returned to Turkey. Because of her sexuality, adwoa, a 21-year-old bisexual Ghanaian woman, said she had faced years of hostility and violence.
“It’s like you’re a criminal,” Adwoa said of her life in Cameroon, where she has been held at a government-run detention facility for months. Bridget Crawford of Immigration Equality, which provides legal services to LGBTQ migrants, said sending queer and transgender people to countries where they may face persecution was especially troubling. She was, however, denied asylum under a Biden-era policy that limited asylum eligibility for many migrants who crossed the southern border outside official routes. That policy has since been struck down by a federal judge. Her case highlights concerns over a growing US policy of sending migrants to countries other than their countries of origin. Aylin was not the only LGBTQ migrant affected by the policy. After a US court prevented her deportation to Ghana, she was instead sent to Cameroon, where same-sex relations are illegal and can carry a prison sentence of up to five years. “It’s a terrifying feeling. A federal appeals court this month upheld a ruling that found aspects of the administration’s third-country deportation policy unlawful. The dispute could eventually reach the Supreme Court.