A US deportation flight carrying nationals from Iran, Afghanistan, Türkiye, and Georgia landed in the Central African Republic (CAR) on Friday, according to lawyers and activists. The operation is part of an expanded immigration enforcement effort under President Donald Trump involving so-called "third-country" deportations, where individuals are sent to countries with which they have no prior connections.

The flight departed from Alexandria, Louisiana, on Thursday evening, made a scheduled stopover in Ghana on Friday afternoon, and arrived in Bangui, the Central African capital, at approximately 2100 GMT. It remains unclear whether some passengers were removed in Ghana or if all were transported to the CAR, a US immigration lawyer involved in the case said. Ghanaian immigration officials did not respond to requests for comment.

Among those on the flight were at least two Iranian women who had been granted “withholding of removal,” a form of protection that offers fewer rights than asylum but has been regarded as a favorable outcome in US immigration courts under previous administrations. Their attorney, Emily Trostle, expressed concern that these individuals, along with others deported through similar channels, might ultimately be forced to return to the countries they initially fled. This concern is heightened by the fact that the US maintains a prohibition on returning people with withholding of removal status directly to their home countries but allows deportation to third countries, even if those countries later send the individuals back to their origin.

The Central African Republic, a country dealing with persistent instability and armed conflict despite efforts by UN peacekeepers, Rwandan troops, and Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group, has been designated by the US State Department with a travel advisory warning: “Do not travel to Central African Republic for any reason.” The impoverished and violence-plagued nation has become a destination in the US’s expanded use of third-country deportations.

The Trump administration has intensified immigration enforcement by broadening both the profiles of individuals targeted for deportation and the destinations to which they can be sent. This marks a shift from previous policies, raising concerns among human rights advocates and legal experts about the safety and legality of deporting individuals to countries where they have no established ties and where conditions may put them at risk.

The deportations, particularly involving nationals from countries like Iran—classified by the US as governed by a “terrorist regime”—occur amid ongoing geopolitical tensions, complicating the situation further. The expanded use of third-country deportations highlights the administration’s focus on reducing immigration through more aggressive and controversial measures.