Five Men Deported by US Refuse to Disembark Plane

The US ran into what appears to be a first-of-its-kind snag in its aggressive deportation push: Five migrants flown from the US to Liberia refused to disembark from their plane, reports the New York Times. The group—identified by lawyers as four Cubans, a Brazilian, and a Cameroonian—were then told they would be flown back to the US but were instead flown to Equatorial Guinea, where they were forced from the plane and remain under detention with other migrants, per Reuters.

The five were among about 20 migrants on the plane to Liberia as part of a "third-country" deportation deal struck by the US and the African nation. Essentially, migrants who say their lives would be endangered if they are sent back to their native countries are sent to a third country instead, in this case Liberia. Equatorial Guinea has a separate deportation deal with the US.

"What happened here, a large group refusing removal on one end and then being moved onward to yet another country, is highly unusual," Claire Trickler-McNulty, a former ICE senior adviser, tells the Times. The Department of Homeland Security said the migrants who refused to get off the plane in Liberia last week were "deported to a safe third country," in accordance with the law.