Yasmany Moreno de Armas, a 31-year-old Cuban immigrant who was living and working in Florida last year, now finds himself stranded in the Central African Republic after the Trump administration deported him to the deeply impoverished and conflict-ridden nation in late July. He only learned of his African destination upon arrival, discovering himself alongside detainees from Ecuador, Honduras, Serbia, Russia and Vietnam.
The deportations represent part of a broader Trump administration strategy involving deals with more than 35 countries to accept third-country deportees arrested during the president’s immigration crackdown. The Central African Republic ranks among the world’s poorest nations, plagued by armed conflict, political inility and Russian mercenaries. The State Department maintains a Level 4 travel advisory warning Americans not to visit due to widespread insecurity.
Eritrea native Zena Gebrgzabher, 39, shares a similar fate after being ejected from the U.S., leaving behind his American wife and five-year-old son in Maryland where he worked as a truck driver. Both men report receiving no advance notice of their destinations.
Meanwhile, Liberia received its first plane of roughly 20 third-country deportees on Thursday, with U.S. officials reporting some passengers refused to disembark upon landing, highlighting the controversial nature of sending people to nations where they have no ties.
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