Men from Cuba and other countries describe being deported by the U.S. to a dangerous African nation: “We cannot leave”
Deported to a War-Torn African Nation: The Men Stranded in the Central African Republic
Bizeconanalysis.com – In late July, a plane carrying dozens of detainees from across the globe touched down in Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic. Among its passengers were men from Cuba, Ecuador, Honduras, Serbia, Russia, and Vietnam — people who had been held in U.S. immigration custody and who, until that moment, had no idea their destination would be a landlocked African country where armed militias roam the roads and Russian mercenaries hold sway over key sectors of the economy. The Trump administration has been routing such detainees to more than 30 foreign nations under bilateral “third-country deportation” agreements, and the CAR has become one of its most consequential destinations.
A Nation on the Brink
The Central African Republic ranks among the poorest nations on Earth. Decades of civil war, coups, and ethnic violence have left much of its infrastructure in ruins, while a State Department Level 4 travel advisory — the highest warning tier — tells Americans not to travel there at all. Russian-backed Wagner Group forces have operated in the country since 2018, deepening instability and fueling human-rights concerns. For a person arriving with no local contacts, no work authorization, and no family nearby, the conditions are, by any measure, perilous.
“We Cannot Leave”
Yasmany Moreno de Armas, 31, had been working and living in Florida before the deportation. He told reporters in Spanish, over a video call from inside a building in Bangui where the deportees have been housed, that he learned only upon arrival that the U.S. government was sending him to Africa.
“We cannot leave, we don’t have documents and we’re suffering and missing our families, in a continent we don’t know.”
Asked whether he had ever heard of the Central African Republic before boarding the flight, Moreno de Armas answered simply: “never.”
A Father Separated from His Son
Zena Gebrgzabher, 39, an Eritrean-born immigrant, shares the same fate. His wife, Yrgalem Gehrehiwet, and their 5-year-old son, Nathan, both American citizens, remain in Maryland, where Gebrgzabher had worked as a truck driver. Over a separate video call, Gebrgzabher described the daily toll of the separation.
“I miss my family. My son. He asked like every day to my wife, ‘(where) is my daddy?'”
Gehrehiwet, speaking about the impact on Nathan, said the boy has been especially affected by his father’s absence, though she has chosen not to explain the full circumstances to him.
“More than us because he loves his dad.”
Like Moreno de Armas, Gebrgzabher said he received no advance notice of his transfer to the CAR and was given no opportunity to contest the decision before it was carried out.
How They Got There
Public records show neither man carries a criminal history beyond minor traffic infractions and immigration violations such as entering the United States without inspection. Their profiles, however, align closely with the categories the administration has targeted for third-country removal: individuals whose home nations refuse to take back deportees, or who hold court-ordered protections that block return to their countries of origin.
Moreno de Armas’s path to the U.S. began in September 2016, when he arrived in Florida by boat. He was admitted under a “parole” authority that had long benefited Cuban arrivals under the now-defunct “Wet Foot, Dry Foot” policy. He subsequently applied for a green card under the Cold War-era Cuban Adjustment Act but was denied because the application was filed after his parole period had lapsed. Left without legal status, he was arrested by immigration enforcement agents in May 2025 and held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody for roughly a year before the summer deportation.
Cuban government documents indicate that Moreno de Armas had previously been imprisoned on the island for “illegal exit from the national territory” after his first attempt to flee. His second attempt succeeded. He told reporters he could face danger if returned to Cuba, given that prior incarceration.
Gebrgzabher’s situation is distinct but equally complex. In 2017, an immigration judge ruled him eligible for protection under the Convention Against Torture and barred his removal to Eritrea. Court filings note he did not receive full asylum — a more permanent status — because he had served as a checkpoint guard in the Eritrean military. That judicial finding, however, did not shield him from being redirected to a third country under the administration’s deportation framework.
The Broader Policy Question
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to questions about the specific terms of its agreement with the Central African Republic, including what compensation or concessions the U.S. is providing in exchange for accepting deportees. The administration has framed third-country deportation as a tool to resolve cases where home countries decline repatriation or where domestic court orders create what officials describe as “immigration backlogs.” Critics argue the practice effectively circumvents judicial protections by relocating individuals to nations with weak rule-of-law institutions and limited consular oversight.
For the men now living in Bangui — without work permits, without family, in a country the State Department itself warns against visiting — the practical question is not abstract. It is where they will sleep tonight, whether they can obtain food or medical care, and when, if ever, they will see their children again.
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