The Trump administration continues its offensive against immigrants.
Following the controversy sparked by the transfer of Venezuelans to a high-security prison facility in El Salvador, it now plans to deport a group of migrants to Libya… aboard an American military aircraft.
This initiative, revealed by the New York Times, represents a new step in the Trump administration’s deportation policy. According to U.S. officials speaking on condition of anonymity, this flight could take off as early as Wednesday, although logistical or diplomatic complications may still delay the operation.
This decision has sparked outrage. Libya is torn by internal conflicts and hosts an extensive network of migrant detention centers, regularly criticized for their cruelty. In a 2021 report, Amnesty International described these facilities as a “hellish landscape,” documenting cases of sexual assault against men, women, and children. The Global Detention Project also reports acts of torture, forced labor, and even slavery.
The U.S. State Department warns against all travel to Libya, citing “terrorism, landmines, kidnappings, and armed conflicts.” Nevertheless, the administration remains inflexible in its desire to send a clear message: no migrant is safe from deportation, even to countries considered dangerous.
Frederic Wehrey, a Libya expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, expressed deep concern: “I have seen these migrant prisons with my own eyes, and these are not places for vulnerable human beings. It’s simply horrible,” he told the New York Times.
This policy is part of a broader strategy by the Trump administration to establish bilateral partnerships to outsource migrant detention. After the agreement with El Salvador, where Venezuelans were imprisoned under extreme conditions, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the New York Times: “I intend to continue identifying countries willing to accept and incarcerate as many gang members as possible.”
Libya, torn between a UN-recognized government in Tripoli and a rival administration in the East under General Khalifa Haftar’s command, lacks any reliable judicial system to handle immigration cases. The U.S. State Department itself acknowledges in its annual report that Libyan detention centers are “ruthless and endanger human life” and that detainees — including children — “are denied any access to judicial proceedings or competent courts.”
The Pentagon’s involvement in this initiative is significant. According to the New York Times, military aircraft have already transported migrants to India, Guatemala, and Ecuador.
If this deportation to Libya materializes, it will represent a concerning shift in the American approach toward asylum seekers and migrants. It will also raise crucial legal and ethical questions, both nationally and internationally.
