An Eswatini court has ruled that four men deported from the U.S. are entitled to meet with their lawyers [1].
The decision marks a critical legal turning point for a controversial third-country migration program that allows the U.S. to remove migrants to nations other than their own. The case highlights concerns over the legality of such agreements, and the human rights of detainees held in foreign facilities.
The men were deported in July 2025 [3] as part of a deal where Eswatini volunteered to receive migrants from the U.S. Since their arrival, they were held at a detention facility in Matsapha, located in central Eswatini [4]. For nine months, the men were denied access to legal counsel [2].
Lawyers are now challenging the legality of the U.S.–Eswatini arrangement, citing the conditions of the detention, and the lack of due process [5]. The court's ruling ends the nearly year-long isolation of the four men, allowing them to finally coordinate their legal defense against the deportation deal [1].
One of the affected men is a Cambodian national. According to his lawyer, the man is now being repatriated after spending five months in detention [6]. The other three men remain central to the ongoing legal battle over the validity of the third-country program.
The U.S. government has sought partnerships with African nations to implement this immigration policy, but the Eswatini experience has drawn scrutiny from legal advocates. The challenge focuses on whether the deal violates international standards of detention, and the right to a fair trial [5].
“Four men deported from the U.S. are entitled to meet with their lawyers.”
This ruling undermines the operational secrecy of third-country deportation deals by affirming that migrants do not lose their fundamental right to legal counsel when transferred to a partner nation. If the challenge to the U.S.–Eswatini deal succeeds, it could create a legal precedent that makes it more difficult for the U.S. to use similar agreements with other African nations to bypass standard deportation routes.
