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Laotian man deported by US to Eswatini released after more than a year in prison
En breve
Phone Chomsavanh, a Laotian citizen deported by the United States to Eswatini, was released Sunday from a maximum-security prison where he had been held for more than a year, his lawyer said. He was one of five immigrants sent to Eswatini in July 2025 under the Trump administration's third-country deportation program. His lawyer says he is now being deported to Laos, and that he left Eswatini and landed in Johannesburg en route.
Leer la noticia completa 1 min de lectura
Phone Chomsavanh, a Laotian citizen deported by the United States to Eswatini under the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, was released Sunday from a maximum-security prison in the African nation after being held there for more than a year, his lawyer said. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Chomsavanh was among five immigrants deported to Eswatini — where the documents say he has no ties — in July 2025, in the early days of what the reporting describes as the Trump administration's secretive and highly contentious third-country deportation program. His US-based lawyer, Tin Thanh Nguyen, said Chomsavanh had been informed he was being deported to Eswatini only shortly before a military cargo plane carrying him and other deportees landed there more than 14 months ago. [ 2 , 3 ]
Chomsavanh and the four other immigrants deported with him had been convicted of serious crimes in the United States, but had served their sentences by the time they were sent to the Matsapha Correctional Complex near Eswatini's administrative capital, Mbabane, according to the lawyer. “He had already served his time. Instead they put him on a plane without telling him where it was headed and left him in a prison in a country he had never heard of, where nobody ever accused him of anything,” Nguyen said. “He sat there for more than a year. No notice, no hearing, no chance to object. That is not due process by any definition.” [ 2 , 3 ]
Nguyen said Chomsavanh is now being deported to Laos. In separate messages to The Associated Press, he said Chomsavanh had left Eswatini and landed in Johannesburg en route to Laos. An Eswatini government spokesperson did not immediately acknowledge the release. [ 2 , 3 ]
According to his lawyer, 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. [ 2 , 3 ]
Por qué importa
The case concerns the Trump administration's third-country deportation program, which the documents describe as secretive and highly contentious. National outlets treated the release as a substantive development in that program, and the lawyer's account raises questions about what notice and hearings deportees receive. The documents do not say what, if anything, US or Eswatini authorities will do in response.
Datos clave
- Phone Chomsavanh, a Laotian citizen, was released from a maximum-security prison in Eswatini on Sunday after being held there for more than a year, according to his lawyer. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- He was among five immigrants deported by the United States to Eswatini in July 2025 under the Trump administration's third-country deportation program. [ 2 , 3 ]
- His US-based lawyer, Tin Thanh Nguyen, said Chomsavanh was told he was being deported to Eswatini only shortly before the plane carrying him landed there more than 14 months earlier. [ 2 , 3 ]
- Chomsavanh was held at the Matsapha Correctional Complex near Eswatini's administrative capital, Mbabane. [ 2 , 3 ]
- He and the four others deported with him had been convicted of serious crimes in the US but had served their sentences before being sent to Eswatini, the lawyer said. [ 2 , 3 ]
- Nguyen said Chomsavanh is now being deported to Laos and had left Eswatini and landed in Johannesburg en route. [ 2 , 3 ]
- 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. [ 2 , 3 ]
Confirmado por varias fuentes
Aún sin aclarar
- Whether the Eswatini government has commented on or acknowledged Chomsavanh's release. The documents say only that an Eswatini government spokesperson did not immediately acknowledge the release.
- The exact date and time of Chomsavanh's release beyond its being on Sunday. The documents specify the day but no time.
- The total number of immigrants deported under the program. One document's text is cut off mid-sentence at \u201cone of around 500 immigrants who have been deported\u2026\u201d,\u0000 so the figure is incomplete and appears in only one document.
Qué dicen los medios locales
Cronología, hora local
- A first brief report says a Lao man deported by the US to Eswatini has been released from prison. [ 1 ]
- A fuller report confirms the release after more than a year and names Phone Chomsavanh and his lawyer, Tin Thanh Nguyen. [ 2 ]
- A further report repeats the account, including that Chomsavanh has left Eswatini and landed in Johannesburg en route to Laos. [ 3 ]