The spokesperson for the African country says that Roberto Mosquera Del Peral and those expelled from Jamaica, Laos, Yemen and Vietnam are in transit.
14ymedio, Havana, 16 July 2025 — The US government resumed deportation flights to third countries on Tuesday with the expulsion to Eswatini of Cuban Roberto Mosquera Del Peral and four other migrants from Jamaica, Laos, Yemen and Vietnam. Because of their criminal records, they were not accepted by their countries of origin.
According to Undersecretary of National Security Tricia McLaughlin, “murderers and a rapist, all convicted” were on the flight that landed in the African country, the former Swaziland.
Among those expelled is the 58-year-old Cuban, Mosquera, who was arrested last June. The US authorities point him out as a member of the Latin Kings gang, which emerged in the city of Chicago in the middle of the last century and is considered by the FBI to be “a serious threat” to the country. He also has “a conviction for murder and aggravated assault on a police officer with a weapon” in Miami.
The Eswatini Government confirmed the landing of the deportees and said that they do not pose a threat to national security.
The Eswatini Government confirmed the landing of the deportees and said that they do not pose a threat to national security. The migrants were detained in isolated units inside penitentiary centers, “where similar offenders are held,” interim spokesperson Thabile Mdluli said. However, he specified that criminals expelled by the US “are only in transit” and insisted that they will be repatriated to their respective countries of origin.
“Eswatini and the United States have had fruitful bilateral relations for more than five decades. Therefore, each agreement reached is carried out with meticulous attention and putting the interests of both nations first,” Mdluli said.
Since his return to the White House in January, Trump has pushed for express expulsions to countries like El Salvador, South Sudan and now Eswatini as part of his mass deportation campaign, one of his main campaign promises.
Earlier this month, the US government sent eight migrants of various nationalities, including two Cubans and a Mexican, to South Sudan after a court lifted restrictions on sending people to countries with which detainees have no ties.
Eswatini has a population of about 1.2 million people who are predominantly rural, and 60% are living on resources below the poverty line, according to data from the World Bank.
The Washington Post reports that an ICE memorandum instructs immigration officials to keep immigrants in detention “for as long as their deportation process lasts.”
King Mswati III, head of state since 1986 and leader of the last absolute monarchy in Africa, holds executive and legislative power, and although the country holds elections every five years to elect members of the lower house of parliament, these only play the role of advisors to the monarch.
The deportation flights are taking place while The Washington Post reports that an ICE memorandum instructs immigration officials to keep immigrants in detention “for as long as their deportation process lasts.”
Vanessa Dojaquez Torres, practice and policy advisor to the American Association of Immigration Lawyers, denounced policies that keep people in detention longer. “The Government’s goal of detaining and deporting more people is growing.”
The Cubans with form I-220A, Jhon Eduardo Hernández, Denis Durán Dávila and Hermes Sánchez López, were arrested last week after going to court in Miami. They were admitted to Alligator Alcatraz without the option to post bail.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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