The Democratic Republic of Congo will receive more than 30 American deportees, all from countries other than Congo. At least some are from Latin America.
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The Democratic Republic of Congo is set to receive more than 30 deportees from the United States this week, four sources told Reuters. This is the latest example of the United States using agreements with African governments to accelerate the removal of immigrants.
All of the deportees are from countries other than Congo, and at least some are from Central and South America, according to sources and U.S. court documents. One source said the number would total 37, while another put the number at 45.
They will be the first to land in the central African country as part of an agreement with the Trump administration announced on April 5, two days after Reuters reported that Congo was negotiating a deal to take in third-country deportees.
The move coincides with the Trump administration’s efforts to implement a U.S.-brokered peace deal between Congo and Rwanda aimed at ending fighting with the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels in eastern Congo that has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands more. This also follows the signing of a strategic partnership that gives the United States preferential access to critical minerals in Congo. Details about when the deportees will arrive or how they will be accommodated in Congo have not been reported so far.
The deportees are expected to arrive in Congo by Friday and be housed in a hotel near Kinshasa’s main airport, three of the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the move, which has drawn criticism from Congolese human rights groups and opposition politicians.
The United States has previously sent third-country deportees to African countries such as Ghana, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, but the legal basis for the transfer and treatment of deportees sent to non-national countries has drawn criticism from legal experts and rights groups.
Some deportees were later returned to their home countries, even though they had court-ordered protections in the United States to prevent this. A Congolese government spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. Kinshasa had previously stressed that it would not spend any funds as part of the Third Country Deportee Agreement with the United States.
A State Department spokesperson said the United States “does not comment on the details of diplomatic communications with other governments.”
Long-term plans unclear
The deportees are expected to stay in a hotel near Kinshasa’s airport for only 10 to 15 days, one of the sources told Reuters. The official could not say what would happen to the deportees after that period, but the hotel would remain open to other guests and the deportees could move freely, diplomats and senior humanitarian officials said.
Exiles are housed in private rooms and provided with two meals a day. The location is guarded by the Congolese National Police and a private security company. Neither Washington nor Kinshasa have said how many deportees will ultimately be sent to Congo.
The deportees arriving this week will receive assistance from the U.N.-affiliated International Organization for Migration (IOM), two sources said.
IOM also provides assistance to third-country deportees sent from the United States to Eswatini and Cameroon.
IOM said in a statement that it had no role in the deportation itself and that both governments responded. An IOM official told Reuters earlier this month that the U.S.-Congo deportation deal could involve migrants from South America, including Venezuelans.
Reuters has identified at least four migrants whose lawyers have been told by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that they will be deported to Congo this week. They are from Colombia, Peru, Chile, and Guatemala.
An April 8 court order by a federal judge in California, seen by Reuters, said the U.S. government plans to deport the Peruvian migrants to Congo. The immigrant’s asylum request was denied, but he was spared deportation to Peru due to fear of persecution.
