Yasmany Moreno de Armas and Zena Gebrgzabher are among many illegal immigrants deported to the Central African Republic
The administration announced a mass deportation policy that sends illegal immigrants without legal status to countries other than their homelands. As part of this crackdown, Yasmany Moreno de Armas, a Cuban immigrant, and Zena Gebrgzabher, an Eritrean native, were both deported to the Central African Republic. Moreno de Armas was living in Florida and was deported to the landlocked nation after his home country, Cuba, limited U.S. deportations. Gebrgzabher, who won a legal case in U.S. immigration court, was barred from returning to Eritrea but was still eligible for third-country deportation. Both men described being effectively stateless in a country where they do not speak the language and have no relatives. Moreno de Armas noted that deportation to a country with an unknown culture should be a secondary option. The administration has convinced more than 30 countries to accept these third-country deportees as part of President Trump's large-scale crackdown on illegal immigration.