Immigration Deportation Gets Increasingly Strange: A Global Crisis Demanding Humanity

The news landed like a stone in the quiet pool of our collective conscience: the United States, a nation once seen as a beacon of hope, has begun sending individuals convicted of violent crimes to a small African country they’ve never known – Eswatini. This isn’t just strange; it’s unsettling. It’s a new, alarming chapter in an aggressive U.S. deportation strategy that is rapidly escalating, sending ripples of profound global repercussions across the world.

This is more than a policy shift; it is a horrifying demonstration of a government operating without a moral compass. The Department of Homeland Security is committing acts that extend far beyond these flights, fueling an anti-immigrant fever that is growing worldwide, in no small part because the U.S. is keeping it on the front page of every global paper. We must act for peace. We must act for humanity. Because governments, unlike individuals, seem to possess no conscience.

Deportation Without Conscience: The U.S. Strategy

The Eswatini precedent, announced just yesterday, July 15, 2025, is a chilling example. A group of men, convicted of serious crimes including murder, homicide, and child rape, from Cuba, Jamaica, Laos, Vietnam, and Yemen, were deported to a tiny, landlocked nation in Southern Africa with which they have no connection. The justification from DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin was stark: these men were “so uniquely barbaric that their home countries refused to take them back.” This statement, however, masks a more sinister truth: it is part of a broader, aggressive campaign by the Trump administration to pressure any country, regardless of its human rights record, to accept individuals who are not their own citizens.

We’ve already seen this strategy unfold. Alleged Venezuelan gang members have been deported to El Salvador, sparking legal and humanitarian concerns, with reports of individuals, some without apparent criminal records, held incommunicado in a notorious mega-prison. Migrants from Africa and Asia have been sent to Costa Rica and Panama. Eight convicted criminals from Asian and Latin American countries have been sent to conflict-ridden South Sudan. And the U.S. has approached or is in talks with Honduras, Kosovo, Moldova, Libya, and Rwanda for similar, ethically dubious agreements.

This systematic stripping of due process is a stark testament to a government operating without a moral compass. Just last month, the Supreme Court suspended a federal judge’s ruling that had required notice and due process before these third-country deportations. Following this, acting ICE Director Todd Lyons issued a directive to expedite these removals. Now, detainees with final deportation orders can be sent to third-party countries without any notice, provided those nations offer “credible assurances” against persecution or torture. If those assurances aren’t received or deemed credible, a mere 24-hour notice is required, or even just six hours in “exigent circumstances.” And here’s the most chilling detail: ICE officials will not affirmatively ask detainees about potential fears of harm. The burden, the terror, is entirely on the detainee to express their fear. This is not justice; it is a calculated dehumanization.

Attacking the Defenders: Silencing Dissent within the Legal System

The government’s lack of conscience extends even to those who uphold the law. We’ve learned that the U.S. Justice Department explored criminal charges against Minnesota judges and defense lawyers. Their “crime”? Discussing or requesting virtual court hearings to protect defendants from federal immigration arrests at courthouses. This alarming probe, supported by high-level DOJ leadership, followed a memo from Emil Bove, then Acting Deputy Attorney General, ordering prosecutors to pursue cases against “state and local actors” for impeding immigration enforcement.

This is part of a broader, aggressive pattern: the administration lashing out at judges, seeking to punish law firms and legal organizations that dare to challenge its policies. As one law professor eloquently put it, this is “part of the campaign to terrorize, intimidate, frighten people from speaking out.” We’ve seen it before, with charges against Milwaukee judge Hannah Dugan and a past attempt to charge a Massachusetts judge for similar actions. This isn’t about upholding the law; it’s about weaponizing it. It’s about criminalizing basic legal and judicial functions, demonstrating a chilling disregard for ethical boundaries in the relentless pursuit of anti-immigrant goals.

A Global Contagion: The Anti-Immigrant Fever Spreads

The U.S. actions are not just domestic tragedies; they are a global contagion. Look to the sand-swept border between Iran and Afghanistan, where nearly 20,000 Afghans are crossing every single day. More than 1.4 million Afghans have been expelled or fled Iran since January 2025 due to a government clampdown on undocumented refugees. Over half a million have been forced back just since the Israel-Iran conflict last month, returned to a homeland already grappling with a severe humanitarian crisis.

Iran justifies these expulsions by citing its own economic crisis and resource shortages. But the crackdown is brutal: security forces raid homes and workplaces, detain scores in sweltering centers, and officials spread baseless accusations that Afghans are terrorists working for Israel or the U.S. This has fueled a surge in racist attacks, with Afghans beaten, attacked with knives, denied wages, and turned away from essential services like hospitals, even if they are legal residents.

The humanitarian impact in Afghanistan is devastating. Returnees are dumped at overcrowded border facilities with few prospects, cutting off vital remittance money and exacerbating already grim unemployment, housing, and health crises. Over half of Afghanistan’s 41 million people already rely on humanitarian assistance, yet only a fifth of the country’s humanitarian needs have been funded this year. Hundreds of healthcare centers have shut down. And for many, especially girls, returning means facing a country they barely recognize, with education banned above sixth grade under Taliban rule.

This global “anti-immigrant fever” is growing, in no small part, because the U.S. is keeping it on the front page of every paper in the world. When a global superpower acts without conscience, when it normalizes the dehumanization of migrants, it sets a dangerous precedent. It gives implicit permission for other nations to follow suit, perpetuating a cycle of cruelty and displacement.

A Call for Peace, Humanity, and a Right to Home

The truth is stark: governments, unlike individuals, often seem to have no sense of humanity, no conscience to tell them right from wrong. We are witnessing one global crime after another, driven by policies that prioritize political agendas over human lives.

But we must remember a fundamental truth: all people have a right to a home, to food, and to live where they can be comfortable and live peaceful lives. This is not a privilege; it is a universal human right that transcends borders and political whims.

Until that happens, until our governments reflect the conscience and compassion that they currently lack, we are only committing one global crime after another. We must act for peace. We must act for humanity. It is up to us, as individuals and as a global community, to demand a return to decency, to compassion, and to the fundamental recognition that every human being deserves a home, safety, and dignity.