A Laotian citizen who was deported from the United States to Eswatini during the Trump administration's immigration crackdown has finally been released from a maximum-security prison in the African nation. The man, identified as Phone Chomsavanh, had been held at the Matsapha Correctional Complex near Mbabane, the administrative capital of Eswatini, for more than a year without ever being formally charged with a crime.
Chomsavanh was one of five immigrants deported to Eswatini in July 2025 as part of a secretive third-country deportation program. His U.S.-based attorney, Tin Thanh Nguyen, stated that his client had no existing ties to the southern African kingdom. According to Nguyen, the deported individuals were only notified of their destination shortly before their arrival on a military cargo plane more than 14 months ago. While Chomsavanh and his fellow deportees had previously been convicted of serious crimes in the United States, they had already completed their respective prison sentences before being sent to the Eswatini facility.
Regarding the circumstances of his release, Nguyen noted that Chomsavanh is now in the process of being deported to Laos. Reports indicate that he has already departed Eswatini and reached Johannesburg, South Africa, while in transit to his home country. As of the time of the announcement, the government of Eswatini had not provided an immediate acknowledgment of his release.
Chomsavanh was born in a refugee camp in Thailand after his parents escaped Laos, and he moved to the United States when he was seven years old. His case is part of a broader, contentious policy where the U.S. government has deported approximately 500 immigrants to various African nations with which they have no prior connection. Rights group Human Rights First has been monitoring these deportations, noting that about a dozen countries have accepted such individuals, sometimes in exchange for significant financial payments. Documentation suggests the Trump administration paid Eswatini $5.1 million to accept the deportees, of which there have been around 30 sent to the country to date.
The program has faced intense criticism from legal experts and human rights organizations due to its lack of transparency and the conditions in which detainees are held. While the Trump administration has defended the policy as a necessary measure for removing individuals with final deportation orders when home countries are slow to accept them, the initiative has faced multiple legal challenges. A U.S. appeals court recently upheld a ruling to halt the program on the grounds that it denied immigrants the opportunity to challenge their removal based on fears of torture or persecution. However, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week to temporarily permit the administration to continue the swift removal of immigrants to third countries, with further arguments scheduled for December.
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