JUBA — Tuan Phan was repatriated to Vietnam on June 19, 2026, after spending more than a year in detention in South Sudan. The Trump administration deported Phan to South Sudan under a third-country deportation program.

Phan, 44, is the second individual from a group of eight men to be repatriated after being held in South Sudan. South Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced his repatriation at a press briefing. Agok Anyar, a spokesperson, said, "We are grateful that while in our custody Mr. Phan was very disciplined, joyful, and importantly, he remained healthy."

Phan and seven other men were initially deported toward Africa in May 2025. A federal judge blocked their midflight deportation to South Sudan at that time, citing procedural irregularities. The eight men were then rerouted to a U.S. military base in Djibouti before the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling allowing their removal to South Sudan. They arrived in Juba aboard a military aircraft in July 2025.

Phan moved to the U.S. as a child in 1991. He received a 25-year prison sentence in 2000 for a fatal shooting during a gang altercation. A U.S. immigration judge ordered his removal from the U.S. in 2009. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained Phan in March 2025 after he completed his sentence.

The eight men have U.S. criminal convictions and completed their prison sentences prior to being taken into custody. The deportees in Juba were held in a gated house supervised by armed guards, according to a U.S. Senate report. A congressional aide who visited Juba was the first non-South Sudanese official to visit the detained men.

Michael Bochenek, a senior counsel for Human Rights Watch, said, "There’s been no independent check on people’s treatment and conditions of confinement and raises serious questions about South Sudan’s compliance with human rights norms and essential safeguards against abuses in detention."

At least seven African countries have agreed to accept non-citizen deportees under arrangements with the U.S. government in exchange for millions of dollars, and more than 180 people have been sent to these countries. South Sudan was selected as a deportation destination despite documented human rights concerns and reported corruption. Armed conflict in South Sudan displaced more than half a million people in 2025.

The remaining deportees in the group are from Cuba, Myanmar, and Laos. Dian Peter Domach is the only South Sudanese national among the deportees. The exact financial compensation and terms of the agreement between the U.S. and South Sudan for accepting the deportees have not been publicly disclosed. U.S. State Department documents indicate South Sudan requested sanctions relief for a former top official and U.S. assistance to prosecute a prominent opposition leader in connection with accepting the deportees.