Trump Nominates Christian Ehrhardt, 41, as Cameroon Envoy Amid $410 Million Deportation Backlash
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Sep 29
Trump Nominates Christian Ehrhardt, 41, as Cameroon Envoy Amid $410 Million Deportation Backlash
1 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Sep 29
Summary
Christian Ehrhardt, a State Department official who helped negotiate third-country deportation deals, was nominated Monday to be U.S. ambassador to Cameroon and now faces Senate confirmation.
The 41-year-old oversees the Office of Remigration, the unit created to send migrants to countries where they are not citizens; Senate Democrats and rights advocates have condemned the program.
The administration has authorized or pledged at least $410 million for agreements with 35 countries, and more than 25,000 people have been deported under the deals, according to a Washington Post review.
Cameroon agreed to accept up to 1,000 third-country nationals in exchange for a $30 million grant to the International Organization for Migration; through June, the U.S. had deported 36 migrants there.
The nomination lands after a 1st Circuit ruling this month found the deportation policy unlawful and ordered an immediate halt, a decision the Justice Department has appealed to the Supreme Court.