Secret Flights, Broken Promises: ICE Deports Migrants to Countries They've Never Been — In Defiance of Court Orders
The Trump administration has been secretly flying migrants to Cameroon — a country most of them have never set foot in — in what lawyers and former immigration officials are calling a deliberate end-run around U.S. federal court orders. Nine people were placed in handcuffs and chains on a Department of Homeland Security flight out of Alexandria, Louisiana on January 14 with no advance notice of their destination. Eight of the nine had active court protections — known as "Withholding of Removal" orders — preventing deportation to their home countries due to credible fears of persecution or torture.
None of them are Cameroonian. They hail from Zimbabwe, Morocco, Ghana, and other African nations. The U.S. has made no public deal with Cameroon to accept third-country deportees, and Cameroon's Ministry of External Affairs has declined to comment. The State Department said it would not discuss its "diplomatic communications."
A second deportation flight landed in Yaounde on Monday. Lawyers believe at least eight more third-country nationals were on that plane.
Former ICE official Scott Shuchart didn't mince words: "Sending people to a third country where they are coerced into deportation to the country that we cannot deport them to is flatly illegal." A Senate Committee on Foreign Relations investigation found the U.S. has paid upward of $40 million in third-country deportation deals — with cash-hungry governments willing to warehouse people the U.S. can't legally send home. One Zimbabwean man on the January flight said they were "dropped like UPS packages."
This is the accountability story that should have every American asking: what other court orders is the administration quietly bypassing — and who's keeping track?
Quick Hits
- U.S. Boards Second Oil Tanker in Indian Ocean — The Pentagon confirmed it boarded the Veronica II in the Indian Ocean after tracking it from the Caribbean Sea, adding "distance does not protect you" in a pointed warning. The U.S. has not confirmed whether the vessel was seized. [Source]
- Trump Renames U.S. Institute of Peace After Himself — Trump's "Board of Peace" meeting is set for Thursday, February 19, at what he's calling the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace. The event is expected to announce $5 billion in Gaza reconstruction pledges from member nations. [Source]
- Iran's Death Toll From January Crackdown Reaches 7,015 — U.S.-based human rights activists count at least 7,015 killed in Iran's brutal crackdown on protesters who took to the streets in early January. Tuesday marks the 40-day mourning period — a date with deep historical significance in Shia tradition, and one that could reignite demonstrations. [Source]
- Eswatini Paid $5.1 Million to Accept U.S. Deportees — The U.S. has confirmed paying Africa's last absolute monarchy $5.1 million to accept up to 160 third-country deportees. King Mswati III, who has long been accused of crushing pro-democracy protests while living lavishly on public funds, now has a new revenue stream courtesy of U.S. taxpayers. [Source]
What to Watch Today
POLITICS | Iran Nuclear Talks Wrap Up — Results Expected This Morning Talks between U.S. envoys and Iran’s foreign minister concluded in Geneva this morning. Watch for any joint statement or characterization from both sides on whether technical discussions on enrichment limits and sanctions moved forward — or whether the missile exercises and mutual posturing signal these talks are theater more than substance. https://edition.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-administration-iran-talks-02-17-26
INTERNATIONAL | Russia-Ukraine-U.S. Trilateral Talks — Live in Geneva Today and Wednesday This is the one to watch closely. For the first time, Russian and Ukrainian delegations are sitting across from each other with American envoys in the room. Watch for any indication of a framework emerging — or whether Russia continues what EU diplomat Kallas called “pretending to negotiate while bombing civilians every single day.” https://edition.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-administration-iran-talks-02-17-26
ACCOUNTABILITY | 40-Day Mourning Period in Iran — Could Spark New Protests Today marks 40 days since Iran’s bloodiest crackdown on protesters in early January. In Shia tradition, these memorial gatherings have historically swelled into larger demonstrations — the 1978 memorials helped fuel the Islamic Revolution itself. Worth watching whether the regime allows gatherings or clamps down ahead of them. https://www.npr.org/2026/02/17/g-s1-110365/u-s-iran-nuclear-talks-geneva
COURTS | Fulton County Voter Data Motion — Judge Expected to Rule A federal judge is expected to respond to the NAACP’s motion to restrict government use of seized Fulton County voter data. The question of whether voter rolls can be used beyond the stated criminal investigation is one every American with a voter registration card should care about. https://www.justsecurity.org/131675/early-edition-february-17-2026/
VIDEO: CNN’s live coverage of the Geneva Iran and Ukraine talks — two of the most consequential diplomatic sessions of 2026 happening simultaneously. https://edition.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-administration-iran-talks-02-17-26
By The Numbers
ICE's planned budget for 2026 to build a "new detention center model" targeting 92,600 detainees, up from roughly 68,000 currently. For context, that's more than the annual GDP of several small nations being spent to warehouse people — many of whom courts have already found are being held unlawfully.
Court rulings since October finding the Trump administration is detaining immigrants unlawfully. More than 400 individual judges reached that conclusion. At what point does a pattern of unlawful detention stop being a policy dispute and become something else?
Estimated amount the U.S. has paid in third-country deportation deals, according to a Senate Foreign Relations Committee investigation. That's taxpayer money paying authoritarian governments to warehouse people who have court-ordered protections.
Territory Ukraine recaptured in five days after a Starlink shutdown disrupted Russian forces, nearly matching all of Russia's December gains in a single week.
People killed in Iran's crackdown on protesters in early January, according to human rights groups. Today's 40-day mourning ceremonies could determine whether those deaths spark a new wave of unrest.
Quote of the Day
"Sending people to a third country where they are coerced into deportation to the country that we cannot deport them to is flatly illegal."
— Scott Shuchart, former ICE official under the Biden administration, responding to reports of secret U.S. deportation flights to Cameroon carrying migrants with active court protections.
https://gvwire.com/2026/02/15/us-deports-nine-migrants-in-secret-ignoring-legal-protections/
Bottom Line
Geneva is the center of the world today — two sets of historic talks happening simultaneously, with the same two American envoys shuttling between them. Whether those conversations produce real movement or just optics remains to be seen. Meanwhile back home, the revelation that the U.S. is secretly flying court-protected migrants to countries they've never lived in raises a question that goes beyond immigration policy: when a government systematically bypasses its own court orders, what does accountability even mean? Today is a good day to pay attention.