President Donald Trump deported five people to Eswatini last week, part of his administration’s policy of third-country deportations.

“Third country,” a term used to describe Eswatini, refers to a country that agrees to accept immigrants who are refused entry to their native countries. The immigrants remain in the “third country” until their return to their native countries can be negotiated.

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The news comes after a July 9 memo issued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s acting director, Todd Lyons, to other ICE employees on how to handle third-country deportations. The memo, according to the Washington Post, notes that federal officers can initiate the deportations with as little as six hours’ notice, even if there’s a risk the arrival country will persecute or torture the migrant sent there.

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Here are the countries involved in third-country deportations, the legal fights surrounding the efforts, and more:

Where Trump has sent people for third-country deportations

The Trump administration has sent people to several countries in its third-country deportations:

Eswatini

Eswatini is Africa’s last absolute monarchy and is a landlocked country in the southernmost part of the continent. It is surrounded mainly by South Africa but bordered by Mozambique to the east. Eswatini is listed as a “Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution” country because of “crime and civil unrest,” according to the State Department.

The African kingdom is taking criminal immigrants whose native countries have refused to take them back because the crimes they committed were “so uniquely barbaric,” Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said on X. They are cooperating with the United States by allowing the deportation of the immigrants to their country with the goal of eventually returning them to their countries of origin.

“Government has assured Eswatini that the arrival of five third-country deportees from the United States of America poses no security threat to the Nation,” the Eswatini government said in a post on X.

The criminals are being held in isolation in correctional facilities “where similar offenders are kept.”

South Sudan

South Sudan, a landlocked country between the Central African Republic and Ethiopia, received eight illegal immigrants from the U.S. on July 4 after they were delayed in Djibouti due to legal challenges from lower courts. South Sudan is listed as a “Level 4: Do Not Travel” country because of “crime, kidnapping, and armed conflict,” according to the State Department.

Like the immigrants deported to Eswatini, these eight people had also committed serious crimes in the U.S. Out of the group, only one person had ties to South Sudan, while the other immigrants originated from countries such as Vietnam, Mexico, Laos, Cuba, and Myanmar. 

El Salvador

For months, Trump has been deporting illegal immigrants with ties to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua to prisons in El Salvador. El Salvador is listed as a “Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions” country because “gang activity has decreased over the last three years,” according to the State Department.

Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act in March to fast-track the process of deporting alleged gang members and criminals, including Daniel Lozano-Camargo, a Venezuelan citizen.

Salvadoran national Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was deported to El Salvador in March and has since been returned to the U.S., could be deported to a country other than El Salvador before facing trial in Tennessee if he is released from criminal custody, a Justice Department attorney said July 7.

Other than these cases, the Trump administration has deported more than 130 Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador, according to the Washington Post.

Has this been tried before? 

In the U.S., former presidents used a detention facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to hold suspected terrorists after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. A fifth of former detainees were sent to “third countries” to resettle. 

Outside the U.S., countries such as Australia, Israel, and India have also adopted similar “third country” policies when it comes to deportation. Australia has sent illegal immigrants to facilities in Papua New Guinea and Nauru since 2013, while Israel sent thousands of Eritrean and Sudanese immigrants to Rwanda between 2013 and 2018 in a secret deal that was later shut down by Israel’s supreme court. 

What legal fights have surrounded this process?

The Trump administration was forced to pause deportations to third countries in April after a lower court ruling required the government to provide advance notice of removal and to give illegal immigrants a chance to make the case they would face harm or persecution if sent to a third location.

This ruling complicated the deportation of the eight people to South Sudan, which took place after the ruling was issued, and is why the group was held in Djibouti until legal proceedings concluded.

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The Supreme Court overturned the ruling in June, allowing the administration to resume deportations and transport the criminals from Djibouti to South Sudan earlier this month.

“Apparently, the court finds the idea that thousands will suffer violence in far-flung locales more palatable than the remote possibility that a district court exceeded its remedial powers,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in her dissent.

Abrego Garcia’s initial deportation in March also prompted a legal firestorm, as his attorneys objected to him being sent to El Salvador based on a 2019 ruling that suggested he could face retaliation by rival gangs. He was also deported without the opportunity to appear in court, which led to an order for his return from a judge in Maryland.