Rep. Grijalva Pleas for Safety of Ahmed Soliman; Arizonan in Danger After Deportation to Equatorial Guinea
Ahmed is one of thousands of people the Trump Administration has deported to “third-party” countries they have no connection to.
Washington, D.C. — Congresswoman Adelita S. Grijalva issued a video statement pleading for the safety of Ahmed Soliman, a 30-year-old Arizonan who has lived in the United States since he was four years old but was deported to Equatorial Guinea, a country he has zero ties to.
A judge determined he could face torture or death if returned to his birth country of Egypt because he is gay, so the Trump administration deported him instead to Equatorial Guinea. According to the Arizona Daily Star, on Friday Ahmed was arrested by local authorities in Equatorial Guinea after he spoke out about the inhumane conditions he and other detainees faced in their confinement – including being threatened at gunpoint – at a decommissioned hotel surrounded by armed guards. His phone was confiscated, cutting off his ability to communicate with the outside world. His current condition is unknown.
Ahmed’s case is one of thousands involving third party country deportations, including dozens more being held at the same hotel in Equatorial Guinea. Here’s how the process works:
The Trump administration is deporting vulnerable individuals to third-party countries because even it acknowledges that sending them back to their birth countries where a judge has found they would face near-certain physical harm or death would be illegal.
Third party countries are accepting these individuals in order to curry favor with the Trump Administration. Many of these countries have a history of human rights abuses, including Equatorial Guinea, which has been governed by the same dictatorship since 1979. The Trump Administration transferred $7.5 million to Equatorial Guinea in exchange for accepting deportees.
The third-party country oftentimes makes it unbearable for the person to live there (as in the case of Ahmed), pressuring them to self-deport to their birth country where they face physical harm or death.
Unfortunately for people like Ahmed, once they are deported, the U.S. government is claiming they no longer bear any responsibility, leaving them subject to the third-party country.