Toronto Star
· collected 2026-10-04 · by Gerald Imray The Associated Press
Phone Chomsavanh, a Laotian citizen deported by the United States to Eswatini in July 2025 under the Trump administration's third-country deportation program, was released from a maximum security prison in Eswatini after being held for over a year. Chomsavahn had no ties to Eswatini and was never charged with any crime there. His U.S.-based lawyer, Tin Thanh Nguyen, confirmed that he is now being deported to Laos. The article highlights the controversial nature of this program, which has led to about 500 immigrants being sent to African countries they have no connections with; Eswatini received around $5.1 million from the U.S. for accepting deportees.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-04,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Phone Chomsavanh, a Laotian citizen, was released from a maximum-security prison in Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) after being held for over a year without charges. He was one of five immigrants deported to Eswatini by the Trump administration under its controversial third-country deportation program in July 2025. Chomsavanh had already served his sentence for serious crimes committed in the U.S. before being sent to the Matsapha Correctional Complex near Mbabane, the administrative capital of Eswatini. His U.S.-based lawyer, Tin Thanh Nguyen, stated that Chomsavahn was only informed about his deportation shortly before a military cargo plane landed in Eswatini with him and other deportees. After his release, Chomsavahn is set to be deported to Laos. The Trump administration defended the policy as a way to quickly remove immigrants who have final deportation orders from the U.S., even if their home countries might not immediately accept them back.
Written for “US Third Country Deportation Policy” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted
verbatim and was checked against the article text before being
stored, so you can find it in the original.
Leaning: leans left for article 56003 (high confidence, 1 verified quote) · logged 2026-10-04
A Laotian citizen deported by the United States to Eswatini under the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown was released from a maximum security prison in the African nation on Sunday after being held there for more than a year, his lawyer said.
asserted
lawyer → deport → year
Phone Chomsavanh was among five immigrants deported to Eswatini — where he has no ties — in July 2025 in the early days of the Trump administration’s secretive and highly contentious third-country deportation program.
asserted
he → deport → program
Chomsavanh’s U.S.-based lawyer, Tin Thanh Nguyen, said in a statement announcing his release that he had only been informed that he was being deported to Eswatini shortly before a military cargo plane carrying him and other deportees landed there more than 14 months ago.
asserted
plane → say → him
Chomsavanh was now being deported to Laos, Nguyen said.
asserted
Nguyen → deport → Laos
Chomsavanh and the four other immigrants he was deported to Eswatini with were convicted of serious crimes in the U.S., but had served their sentences by the time they were sent to the Matsapha Correctional Complex near Eswatini’s administrative capital, Mbabane.
“Years after he finished serving his sentence in the United States, the Trump administration flew him to the small southern African kingdom and handed him over to a maximum-security prison, where he was held for more than a year without ever being charged with a crime,” Nguyen said.
asserted
Nguyen → deport → crime
He said in separate messages to The Associated Press that Chomsavanh had left Eswatini and landed in Johannesburg en route to Laos.
asserted
Chomsavanh → say → Laos
An Eswatini government spokesperson didn’t immediately acknowledge Chomsavanh’s release.
asserted
spokesperson → acknowledge → release
Chomsavanh was born in a refugee camp in Thailand after his parents fled Laos, and his family moved to the United States when he was 7, his lawyer said.
asserted
lawyer → bear → States
Chomsavanh is one of around 500 immigrants who have been deported from the United States to African countries that aren’t their home nations since the third-country program began last year, according to rights group Human Rights First, which has been monitoring the deportations.
uncertain
which → deport → deportations
Around a dozen African countries have accepted third-country deportees from the U.S., some in exchange for millions of dollars in payments.
asserted
countries → accept → payments
Eswatini, which is Africa’s last absolute monarchy and is ruled by a king, was paid $5.1 million by the Trump administration to take deportees, according to the agreement between the countries.
uncertain
which → rule → countries
Eswatini has received around 30 deportees so far.
asserted
Eswatini → receive → deportees
The program, which results in immigrants being held in countries they have no ties with and where they haven’t been charged with any crime, has been fiercely criticized by rights groups and lawyers.
asserted
they → result → groups
It has been the subject of legal challenges in the U.S. and in some of the countries where immigrants have been sent.
asserted
immigrants → send → countries
The Trump administration has defended the policy as a way to quickly remove immigrants who have final deportation orders from the U.S. when their home countries might not immediately take them back.
uncertain
countries → defend → them
Last month, a U.S. appeals court upheld a judge’s ruling to halt the program, because it didn’t give immigrants facing removal from the U.S. time to challenge their deportation to a third country because they fear persecution or torture there.
asserted
they → uphold → persecution
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week to temporarily allow U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to continue swiftly removing immigrants to third countries, though it will hear arguments in the case in December.
asserted
it → rule → December
The program has largely been carried out in secrecy, with little transparency over how many immigrants have been deported to third countries, and where and in what conditions they are being held.
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asserted
they → carry → conditions
The Aporia
