Lao Man Deported to Eswatini Released After Over a Year in Prison
Phone Chomsavanh, deported under Trump administration policy, was held in Eswatini where he had no ties.
A Laotian citizen deported to Eswatini by the United States under the Trump administration's immigration crackdown has been released from a maximum-security prison in the African nation after being held for more than a year, his lawyer confirmed.
Phone Chomsavanh was among five immigrants deported to Eswatini in July 2025 as part of the administration's secretive third-country deportation program. Chomsavanh, who has no ties to Eswatini, was informed of his destination shortly before landing there, according to his U.S.-based lawyer, Tin Thanh Nguyen.
Chomsavanh and the four other individuals deported with him had served their sentences for serious crimes in the U.S. prior to their removal. However, upon arrival in Eswatini, they were sent to the Matsapha Correctional Complex. "He had already served his time. Instead they put him on a plane without telling him where it was headed and left him in a prison in a country he had never heard of, where nobody ever accused him of anything," Nguyen stated. "He sat there for more than a year. No notice, no hearing, no chance to object. That is not due process by any definition."
Chomsavanh was born in a refugee camp in Thailand after his parents fled Laos, and his family later relocated to the United States when he was seven years old. He has since left Eswatini and is en route to Laos.
Chomsavanh's release comes as the U.S. third-country deportation program, which has seen approximately 500 immigrants deported to African countries where they have no national ties, faces ongoing scrutiny. Several African nations have accepted deportees, some in exchange for payments. Eswatini, for example, reportedly received $5.1 million from the Trump administration to accept deportees.
Human rights groups and lawyers have fiercely criticized the program for holding individuals in countries where they have no connections and have not been charged with any crimes. These groups have also raised concerns about the lack of transparency regarding the program's operations and the conditions of those deported.
In a related development, a U.S. appeals court recently upheld a judge's ruling to halt the program, citing concerns that it did not provide immigrants with adequate opportunities to challenge deportations to third countries if they feared persecution or torture. The U.S. Supreme Court has since temporarily allowed the administration to continue swift removals to third countries while it prepares to hear arguments on the case in December.