KINSHASA — On April 17, U.S. authorities flew 15 people to the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital, a surprise destination for the group that included men and women from Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. The arrivals are the first known deportations under a little‑disclosed migration agreement reached with the Trump administration.
NPR interviewed five members of the group, who asked not to be identified because returning to their home countries could put them at risk. They described being detained, put on a plane without being told where they were headed, and restrained during travel. Many said they face threats at home but would rather take that risk than remain in Congo, which they portrayed as dangerous, impoverished and unfamiliar.
Some said U.S. authorities deported them despite active court cases over their immigration status. Several arrived without money or passports. The International Organization for Migration has provided assistance, and a few deportees remain in contact with lawyers in the United States.
They are housed in a modest hotel near Kinshasa’s airport. Staff provide regular meals, but residents report frequent water outages, rodents and heavy mosquito populations. Although technically free to leave, security personnel have urged them to remain inside, effectively isolating people who speak none of Congo’s official languages and have no local ties. Two deportees said they were not given yellow fever vaccinations before being sent; yellow fever and malaria are endemic in the country.
“The situation here is frightening,” one Ecuadorian said, citing ongoing disease outbreaks and armed conflict in parts of the country as reasons he did not want to stay.
Congo is a large country with long‑running violence in the east, a legacy of regional wars in the 1990s and early 2000s. Rebel groups, including the Rwanda‑backed M23, control swathes of territory in the east, and there are armed clashes closer to Kinshasa as well. The capital itself is a megacity of more than 15 million people where many residents struggle to meet basic needs.
Details of the U.S.‑Congo arrangement have not been fully disclosed. Officials in Kinshasa said the migrants would be hosted only temporarily and that the United States would cover costs, but it remains unclear how many people will ultimately be sent, what legal status they will hold while in Congo, or how long they will stay. The U.S. State Department declined to comment on diplomatic discussions.
The DRC is among several African countries that accepted third‑country deportees under deals brokered by the previous U.S. administration; others include Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan and Eswatini. Advocacy groups said the Trump administration was considering sending hundreds or potentially more than a thousand Afghans to Congo — a claim the White House later said the president was not aware of.
The arrivals have prompted public backlash in Kinshasa. Demonstrators burned tires and marched, denouncing plans to host what some called “Afghan mercenaries,” and protesters staged a sit‑in outside the U.S. embassy. Critics say the deal is tone‑deaf in a country that already hosts roughly one million refugees abroad and has nearly seven million people displaced internally. Opposition figures have publicly questioned why Congo should absorb migrants tied to U.S. immigration policies.
For the Latin Americans at the hotel, the immediate future is uncertain. Some liken the expulsions to human trafficking; others say they were removed despite pending legal protections. With few local supports, limited information about their status and no clear alternatives offered other than returning to their countries of origin, they remain in limbo thousands of miles from home.
“We don’t know what will happen to us,” one Colombian woman said. For now, the group waits, isolated in a place they did not choose and where they say few understand their plight.