He Was Deported to a Country He’d Never Heard Of
Summary
Reporter Nicholas Casey examines the Trump administration's controversial practice of third-country deportations, which sends immigrants to nations with which they have no connection. The episode profiles Roberto Mosquera, a Cuban-born plumber deported to a maximum-security prison in Eswatini, where he has faced indefinite detention and despair. Casey details how the U.S. pays foreign governments to accept these detainees, raising serious human rights concerns. The report also covers the Supreme Court’s upcoming decision on whether to allow these deportations to continue despite a lower cou…
Topics discussed
Introduction: Supreme Court review of third-country deportations
Defining third-country deportations and their controversy
Who is being deported: criminal records vs. fear of torture
Roberto Mosquera's background and criminal history in the US
Roberto's life in the US: legal status and career as a plumber
Roberto's detention and mysterious flight to Africa
Arrival in Eswatini and imprisonment
Overview of Eswatini and conditions in the prison
Lack of legal representation and Roberto's despair
Roberto's hunger strike and connection to his daughter
Ending the hunger strike and gaining access to a phone
How the US government funded third-country deportation deals
Scale of the issue: estimates of people affected
The specific legal question before the Supreme Court
Uncertainty of Roberto's future and comparison to Guantanamo
Roberto's hope for return to the United States
News brief: Terrorism arrests at RAF Fairford base
Listen ad-free on Castria