CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC — Alma David, a lawyer for the man, stated that his family faced danger because of their association with American forces. "His family in Afghanistan had received threats from the Taliban because of the work performed by the brothers in support of the U.S. military," David said.

One of the Afghan man's brothers lives in the United States and served in the Afghan National Army, which collaborated with the U.S. military before the Taliban seized power in 2021. Another brother was a pilot trained by the U.S. and was killed by the Taliban., the Afghan man is identified as Khalil, and his sister and father also worked alongside U.S. forces.

Advocacy groups AfghanEvac, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Human Rights First confirmed the deportation of the Afghan man. Savi Arvey, director of policy, refugee and immigrant rights at Human Rights First, noted the frequency of these transfers. The primary source and the flight on Saturday was the second to the Central African Republic since June.

Under a series of often secret or quietly struck agreements, the Trump administration has deported thousands of people to two dozen countries that are not their own. Immigration lawyers say the practice of deporting people to third countries is being used as a legal loophole to indirectly return some asylum seekers to countries they fled.

Why It Matters

The deportation of individuals to the Central African Republic, a country in Central Africa, involves safety and legal procedure given existing travel warnings. The inclusion of an Afghan ally who had received judicial protection shows tensions between court orders and executive enforcement actions regarding asylum seekers.

This event fits into a broader pattern where the administration utilizes third-country agreements to remove migrants. A previous deportation flight to the Central African Republic since June carried two dozen migrants, including an Iranian woman facing persecution in her home country, indicating an ongoing operational strategy.

Timeline

On August 20, 2024, the Homeland Security Department published a notice titled "Implementation of Keeping Families Together." On Saturday, August 30, 2026, the United States deported dozens of people to the Central African Republic. The deportation flight landed in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, on Saturday. The deportation flight included 12 Afghans and eight Iranians, as well as several people from Nepal and Nicaragua. The deportation flight included an Afghan man in his early twenties whose brothers collaborated with the U.S. military.

What's New

Human Rights First stated that the flight on Saturday was the third deportation flight from the U.S. to the Central African Republic this year. The Department of Homeland Security amended its regulations to allow asylum officers to consider the potential applicability of certain bars to asylum and statutory withholding of removal during credible fear and reasonable fear screenings.

A previous deportation flight to the Central African Republic since June carried two dozen migrants, including an Iranian woman facing persecution in her home country. The U.S. State Department Travel Advisory warns citizens not to travel to the Central African Republic for any reason, citing risks of unrest, crime, kidnapping, health, and terrorism. Central African Republic is country in Central Africa.

How Sources Differ

Sources differ on the count of recent flights to the destination.