Their deportation appears to be part of a secretive transfer arrangement between the U.S. and Eswatini—an extension of Trump’s broader effort to expand the U.S. deportation program into Africa, despite warnings from human rights groups and lawyers who say the practice denies deportees due process and exposes them to abuse.

Documents obtained by The New York Times show that the Eswatini government at one point requested $500 million from the U.S. in exchange for accepting third-country deportees.