No trial, no ties: Laotian man freed after 14 months in eSwatini prison
- Phone Chomsavanh dumped in Eswatini maximum-security prison for 14 months without charge or trial.
- US taxpayer cash: Eswatini pocketed $5.1 million in exchange for hosting US deportees.
- The secret program has offloaded 500 immigrants to African nations they have zero ties to.
- Supreme Court green-lights controversial deportations pending December hearing despite lower court injunctions.
Brief Summary
The Trump administration's third-country deportation program has hit a grim milestone, as Laotian national Phone Chomsavanh was finally released from an Eswatini prison after 14 months of detention. Chomsavanh, a long-time US resident, was whisked away on a military cargo plane with no notice and dropped in a country where he had no connections, despite having already completed his criminal sentence in the United States. His release comes as the program faces mounting legal scrutiny and criticism for its total lack of due process.
Why This Matters
This story signals a fundamental shift in how the US handles immigration enforcement, moving toward a 'deportation by any means' model that trades taxpayer dollars for the cooperation of foreign regimes. Because the program operates in secrecy with minimal oversight, it sets a chilling precedent for how the government can bypass constitutional protections. If the Supreme Court ultimately upholds this policy, it effectively grants the executive branch the power to exile individuals to hostile or unfamiliar territories without a hearing, fundamentally changing the reach and authority of US immigration policy regardless of your stance on border security.