Trump administration deports Afghan man with family ties to US military to Central African Republic

A deportation flight arrived in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, on Saturday carrying dozens of migrants, among them an Afghan man whose family had direct ties to U.S. military operations in Afghanistan. The man's lawyer, Alma David, said a U.S. judge had granted him protection from deportation to Afghanistan because of credible fears of Taliban persecution, according to NPR's reporting of an Associated Press account.

Court documents reviewed by the Associated Press showed that the Afghan man's family in Afghanistan had received Taliban threats stemming from his brothers' collaboration with U.S. forces. One brother, David said, lives in the United States and served in the Afghan National Army, which worked alongside U.S. forces before the Taliban's return to power in 2021. A second brother, trained as a pilot by the United States, was killed by the Taliban.

Savi Arvey, director of policy, refugee and immigrant rights at Human Rights First, said the flight carried 12 Afghans, eight Iranians, and additional passengers from Nepal and Nicaragua. Saturday's flight was the second deportation to the Central African Republic since June, when a similar flight carried approximately two dozen migrants, including an Iranian woman facing persecution in her home country.