Updated · The Atlanta Journal Constitution · Aug 19
ICE Seeks to Deport Iranian Woman to Central African Republic as 22,000 Face Third-Country Removals
Updated
Updated · The Atlanta Journal Constitution · Aug 19
ICE Seeks to Deport Iranian Woman to Central African Republic as 22,000 Face Third-Country Removals
2 articles · Updated · The Atlanta Journal Constitution · Aug 19
Summary
An ICE notice dated Aug. 4 says an Iranian woman held at Stewart Detention Center in Georgia could be removed to the Central African Republic, a country she says she has never seen and whose language she does not know.
The case reflects the Trump administration’s expanded third-country deportation policy, which sends migrants without legal status to nations other than their homelands; U.S. Third Country Deportation Watch estimates about 22,000 people have been deported under it.
Her lawyer says she converted to Christianity after entering the U.S. in 2024 and fears persecution if returned to Iran, while a federal lawsuit seeks to block her transfer before she exhausts immigration-court appeals.
The Central African Republic is under a U.S. Level 4 travel advisory citing violent crime, kidnapping and unexploded land mines, even as Washington has struck deportation deals with several African countries costing millions of dollars.