A group of migrants from Honduras, Cuba and Ecuador reported that they were deported by United States immigration authorities to the Central African Republic without having received prior information about their destination and without, according to their version, the guarantees of due process being respected during their expulsion.
The case came to light after Honduran Brayan Sánchez broadcast videos and offered an interview from Bangui, capital of the African country, where he claims to remain with four Cuban citizens and an Ecuadorian after being transferred by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE).
Sánchez, who lived in Miami and worked as a truck driver, said he was detained on May 13 and later transferred to several detention centers in Florida, Colorado, Arizona, California and Texas before boarding a flight to an unknown destination.
"ICE only told me: everything about you is now closed, but by force, it was nothing voluntary. Africa was never mentioned to me. If they had mentioned it to me, I'm going to El Salvador, I'm going to Mexico in the end, but less so Africa. Never by my will. Never," he declared.
According to his testimony, the flight lasted around 21 hours and made stops in Senegal and Nigeria before landing in the Central African Republic.
They report threats and lack of information during the transfer
The Honduran migrant maintained that, before the trip, immigration agents informed them that they had to board the plane without offering further explanations about the destination. “But why are they sending us there?… we don't know, they just go there,” Sánchez said, recalling the conversation he claims he had with ICE officials.
The group states that it remains in a property under mobility restrictions while local authorities process visas for its temporary stay. They also report difficulties in accessing drinking water, adequate food and medical care, in addition to facing language barriers and a lack of information about their immigration status.
In a video broadcast from Bangui, Cuban Arístides Fernández García asked for support from congressmen and immigrant defense organizations. “We are please asking the congressmen from South Florida, María Elvira Salazar, and all the people who can see this video, to make it viral, to listen to our voice, that this has been an injustice and we are having a very bad time,” he expressed.
Case occurs in the midst of deportation policy to third countries
The International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) has questioned these deportations, arguing that, following a ruling by the Supreme Court in June 2025, some expulsions have been carried out with little notice and without sufficient procedural guarantees. Sánchez maintains that he had a court order preventing his deportation and affirms that his lawyers believe that his case should be reviewed.
“I spoke with lawyers, they told me: 'no, they have to return you because they have violated all your rights,'” he said.
Until the time of publication, ICE had not responded to a request for information from EFE about the complaints. For its part, the Government of Honduras reported that it is carrying out diplomatic efforts to follow up on the case and reiterated that it will support an eventual voluntary return of the Honduran citizen.
