US Deports Afghan Relative of US Military Collaborators to Central African Republic

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The United States deported dozens of individuals to the Central African Republic on Saturday, including an Afghan man whose brothers collaborated with the U.S. military, according to his lawyer and an advocacy group. The Afghan man, in his early twenties, had been granted protection against deportation to Afghanistan by a U.S. judge due to fears of persecution by the Taliban, as stated by his lawyer Alma David. Court documents reviewed by The Associated Press indicate that his family in Afghanistan received threats from the Taliban due to the work of his brothers in support of the U.S. military. One of his brothers resides in the United States and served in the Afghan National Army, which worked alongside the U.S. military before the Taliban regained power in 2021. Another brother, a U.S.-trained pilot, was killed by the Taliban, according to David. The deportation flight that landed in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, also included 12 Afghans, eight Iranians, and several individuals from Nepal and Nicaragua, as reported by Savi Arvey, director of policy, refugee and immigrant rights at Human Rights First. Advocates note that under various agreements, the Trump administration has deported thousands of individuals to countries that are not their own as part of its immigration enforcement strategy. Immigration lawyers argue that this practice serves as a legal loophole to indirectly return some asylum seekers to countries they fled. The flight on Saturday marked the second such operation to the Central African Republic since June, which previously carried two dozen migrants, including an Iranian woman facing persecution in her home country.