‘I didn’t know where DR Congo was’: Latin Americans deported by US tell BBC of their shock

‘I didn’t know where DR Congo was’: Latin Americans deported by US tell BBC of their shock. For eight years, Jorge Cubillos worked to build a new life in the US, after fleeing threats in his home country of Colombia. He states he had a work permit and had been granted protection from deportation under Article 3 of the UN Convention Against Torture (CAT). However, Cubillos was suddenly placed on a flight to the Democratic Republic of Congo, approximately 10,700 km (6,700 miles) away from his wife and four children in Florida. “I never thought I would end up in Africa. I thought they were just threats,” he told BBC Mundo. Speaking by telephone from his hotel room in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, he says he has no idea what the future holds. Cubillos is one of a group of 15 migrants and asylum seekers from Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador deported from the US to the central African country last month. While US authorities state they were deported for being in the country illegally, some told the BBC their asylum applications were pending, implying a right to remain. They are the first to arrive in DR Congo under a controversial agreement with third countries signed by US President Donald Trump’s administration, whose promise of mass deportations was central to his re-election campaign. Another deportee, Carlos Rodelo, stated he only learned of his final destination hours before the flight. “When they told me they were sending me to the Congo, I told them I didn’t even know what that was or where it was.” He spent eight months in detention in Louisiana before deportation, despite a prior court ruling allowing him to remain in the country. The Trump administration defended its deportations to other so-called third countries as lawful and mutually beneficial. However, a federal judge last week ordered US authorities to bring back one of the women sent to DR Congo, stating her deportation “was likely illegal.” DR Congo stated it agreed to accept migrants from third countries due to its commitment to human dignity, migrant rights protection, and international solidarity. The country is engaged in a decades-long conflict, though the fighting is 2,700 km (1,700 miles) away on the other side of the vast nation. Last year, the US brokered a peace deal between DR Congo and Rwanda, which is accused of backing rebel forces in its large neighbor. The Congolese government says the migrants’ stay is temporary and their care and support are funded by the US. The BBC has sought comment from the US State Department. Migrants and asylum seekers interviewed by BBC Mundo describe unacceptable conditions, including frequent power cuts and lack of drinking water. “We have fever, vomiting, and diarrhea. They tell us it’s normal and our bodies are just adapting to Africa,” Cubillos told the BBC shortly after arriving. After a month in the same hotel, they report little change and continued illness. “We have not been given any information about how long we will be here or when we will be leaving. We’re constantly ill and don’t want to eat the food provided, as it makes us feel worse. Our health is deteriorating. We’re receiving medical assistance, but it isn’t enough,” Cubillos stated. The mid-range apartment hotel housing them is on the outskirts of Kinshasa, near the international airport in the Mikindo district, one of the city’s poorest. Despite this, deportees have access to a football pitch, tennis court, and an Olympic-sized swimming pool. At least two police officers guard the exterior, and the BBC was denied entry. A staff member told the BBC they sometimes play football with the deportees. “I was worried about them being criminals. But, with time, I have come to understand that they are just like our own citizens, also trying to make a living outside the country.” They added, “They are all good people and they have started picking up a few words in Lingala [the main language in Kinshasa].” When questioned by the BBC about the hotel’s facilities, Cubillos clarified that while it might appear they are living well from the outside, this is not the reality. “We’ve only used the pool once, on a really hot day. Most of the time, we’re stuck in our rooms.” He added that, being in an unfamiliar country, thousands of miles from home, where French and Lingala are the main languages and few speak English or Spanish, there is “nothing to do.” “We spend our days shut in, alone with our thoughts, our problems, and the constant worry about what’s going to happen to us.” Despite being told they were free to leave the premises, the Latin American deportees assert this is not the reality, and even if they could, there is “nowhere to go anyway.” The group states they have been allowed out only a few times, accompanied by security guards, to see parts of the city or to go shopping. All those sent to DR Congo deny committing any crimes in the US. Marta – whose name has been changed for fear of reprisals – states that the “lack of information” and uncertainty about their future is also affecting them “emotionally and psychologically.” She told BBC Mundo she was detained less than two months after her release under a supervision order in February, following a 14-month detention during a long legal battle. She maintains she has never been accused of anything other than contravening immigration laws. When US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrived at her Texas home to verify her address and take her to an immigration office for a GPS monitor, she suspected nothing until they handcuffed her. Marta described being held in solitary confinement for almost two days at one point. “They locked me in a room. They didn’t give me food or water. It was very cold,” she says, adding her family didn’t know her whereabouts. After being vaccinated against yellow fever and transferred to Louisiana, she was informed of a flight to DR Congo the next day. Hubert Tshiswaka, director of the Human Rights Research Institute (IRDH) and a human rights lawyer, asserts that the agreement between DR Congo and the US violates international commitments on refugee protection. “There is no legal basis to bring people from other countries to the Congo, especially from the United States,” he told BBC Mundo. Marta notes significant “misinformation” online, with some labeling them criminals who “deserve what’s happening,” which she refutes. According to Tshiswaka and the group, they have done “nothing wrong here, so there is also no legal basis for holding them in detention.” BBC Mundo has contacted ICE for comment. “Here I am, in the Congo,” Marta says. “How do I feel now? I feel that our human rights have been violated.” “We feel completely adrift. We don’t know what’s going to happen to us.” Even the journey to Kinshasa was “inhumane,” the group stated. “We spent more than 25 hours tied at the waist, hands, and feet, with a paper bag that had an apple, some chips, and a bottle of water inside,” Cubillos recounted. “It was terrible.” Rodelo stated that a Maryland judge granted him protection under The UN Convention Against Torture (CAT) in February 2025. Months later, he was detained after being summoned to an immigration office to sign documents. “Three ICE agents were literally hiding, waiting for me,” he explained. When he informed them of his approved asylum and CAT protection, Rodelo says, “They told me they were taking me one way or another.” During his detention, he filed additional protection requests but was deported before a federal judge could rule on them. According to the DHS, Rodelo had been issued a “final order of removal for violating the terms of his parole” in February, the same month he claims to have been granted CAT protection. “[The] Trump administration is utilizing all lawful options to carry out the largest deportation operation in history, just as President Trump promised,” the statement said. “Anyone who has been deported received full due process.” One Colombian woman, who requested anonymity, expressed uncertainty about ever wanting to return to the US, where life has become “scary.” “After everything that’s happened and everything I’ve suffered, who can assure me that I won’t go through this again and that in the future they won’t send me to another country?” she questioned. Cubillos states the deportees are offered two options: stay in the hotel or return home. He noted that one Colombian, unable to cope, decided to return home at his own expense. However, Cubillos says this is not feasible for most. “If I had to choose between the Congo and Barranquilla [in] Colombia – where I’m from – I would choose Barranquilla, because here I’m not doing anything,” he says. “But going back to Barranquilla would put my life at risk,” he adds. “Asylum seekers are at risk in our countries.” Additional reporting by Emery Makumeno in Kinshasa. #USDeportations #DRCongo #MigrantRights #AsylumSeekers #HumanRights #LatinAmericanMigrants #TrumpAdministration #InternationalLaw #ForcedMigration #Kinshasa