Migrants Describe Violent U.S. Deportation Flights to the Central African Republic

Federal immigration agents forcibly loaded shackled asylum seekers onto an aircraft at Dallas Love Field on July 28, executing a deportation flight to the Central African Republic under a contested U.S. program that has expelled more than 25,000 individuals to third countries. The operation, documented by survivor interviews and reporting from the Los Angeles Times, highlights violent tactics used against migrants who fled repressive governments and requested legal counsel before removal.

Tactics Used on the Tarmac in Texas

Detainees on the bus parked on a Texas tarmac were ordered off the vehicle and onto an Africa-bound aircraft, prompting several men to refuse compliance. Kenis Adalberto López, a 44-year-old migrant from Nicaragua, recounted pleading with immigration agents through tears before an agent boarded the vehicle and fired pepper balls. López stated he was struck twice in the chest by projectiles, strapped to a stretcher, and carried onto the plane where he remained restrained for the roughly 24-hour journey to Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic.

Two other men who resisted boarding were kept in full-body restraint suits resembling straitjackets for a significant portion of the flight, according to witness accounts. All deportees on the aircraft were shackled at both ankles and wrists throughout the transit. The flight carried migrants from multiple nations, including Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Iran, many of whom possessed no criminal records and held special protection statuses barring their return to home countries due to documented torture risks.

Conditions and Legal Status in the Central African Republic

After stops in two other African countries, the flight landed in Bangui, recognized as one of the world’s poorest nations and currently experiencing an ongoing civil war between Muslim and Christian rebels that has lasted 15 years. Deportees were administered yellow fever shots and placed inside a housing complex monitored continually by armed guards. The city faces severe challenges, including a recent cholera outbreak, water shortages, power outages, and widespread crime, prompting a U.S. government advisory warning against travel to the region due to unrest, kidnapping, and landmines.

Human rights groups tracking the issue note that three flights carrying U.S. deportees have arrived in Bangui since June. Many individuals report that U.S. immigration agents confiscated their identity documents during initial detention and failed to return them, leaving their local immigration status unclear and making departure nearly impossible. Yasmani Moreno, a 31-year-old deportee who arrived in Florida on a raft from Cuba in 2016, stated in an interview that he and another detainee were kidnapped on the street by armed men believed to be police officers and forced to pay the equivalent of $100 for release. Moreno documented his experience extensively on TikTok while walking along the muddy streets of Bangui.

Federal Court Pause and Ongoing Legal Battle

The third-country deportation program was temporarily halted last week by a federal appeals court ruling finding that the government failed to provide migrants with a meaningful opportunity to challenge their removals to unfamiliar nations. Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the policy, describing it in statements as an entirely legal and invaluable tool to stem the tide of illegal immigration. Despite the judicial pause, the Trump administration has vowed to take the case to the Supreme Court to sustain the enforcement initiative.