Cubian, Eritrean immigrants deported by U.S. to Central African Republic cry out, 'we can't leave'
Immigrants deported by the U.S. government to the Central African Republic are reporting dire conditions and an inability to return home. The deportations are part of a broader U.S. policy to utilize third-country agreements to manage illegal immigration.
Why it matters
This raises significant human rights and ethical concerns regarding the treatment of deportees and the safety of the nations they are sent to.
August 23, 2026 Chizoba Ogbeche World Stage 0
Last year, Cuban immigrant Yasmany Moreno de Armas, was working and living in Florida. He’s now in the Central African Republic, after the Trump administration sent him and dozens of deportees to the deeply impoverished and conflict-ridden nation.
The 31-year-old said he only learned the U.S. government was deporting him to Africa after he arrived there in late July, alongside detainees from countries across the globe, including Ecuador, Honduras, Serbia, Russia and Vietnam.
“We cannot leave, we don’t have documents and we’re suffering and missing our families, in a continent we don’t know,” Moreno de Armas told CBS News in Spanish over a video call from inside a building in Bangui, the country’s capital, where the deportees have been living.
Asked if he had ever heard of the Central African Republic prior to his deportation, he said “never.”
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