Farah, a 21-year-old young Moroccan woman who is homosexual, was deported to Cameroon in January from the United States. In this country, same-sex relationships are considered a crime and punishable by five years in prison.
Back to square one for Farah. After fleeing Morocco and attempting to seek asylum in the United States, this young homosexual woman is now living back in her home country and must now “live and work in fear of being found by members of her family,” as reported by Associated Press.
The young woman is among those who have been deported to a third country since the beginning of Donald Trump’s second term in January 2025. Farah was initially deported from the United States to Cameroon, a country where having sexual relations with a person of the same sex is punishable by five years in prison.
Between staying in Cameroon and returning to Morocco, where being homosexual also exposes one to imprisonment, Farah ultimately chose the latter option.
Before fleeing her country, Farah explains that she was beaten by her family and by her partner’s family. Members of her family then tried to kill her when they found her in a city where she thought she was safe. Farah and her partner then decided to leave the country and go to the United States, where friends were based, via Brazil.
A year in detention center
When the two young women arrived at the American border at the beginning of 2025, “we felt that all our efforts were worth it,” explains Farah to the American press agency. Unfortunately for her, the escape she hoped for was an illusion. She ended up spending almost a year in detention centers, first in Arizona, then in Louisiana.
Farah’s asylum application was rejected, but she obtained a protection order from a judge that prevented her from being deported to Morocco due to the danger it posed to her. Her partner, who was denied asylum and a similar order, was deported.
Three days before a hearing to discuss her release from detention center, Farah was handcuffed by ICE immigration police officers and was forced in January to board a flight to… Cameroon, where she was once again placed in detention before returning to Morocco.
$40 million for 300 deportations
According to Associated Press, since January 2025, at least dozens of people have been deported from the United States to third countries despite having legal protection through a court decision. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that deportations from the United States to Cameroon were carried out in January.
“If a judge concludes that an undocumented foreigner has no right to be on American soil, we will deport them. End of story,” they justified.
Cameroon, along with South Sudan, Rwanda, Uganda, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), Ghana, and Equatorial Guinea, is part of the African countries that have welcomed nationals from third countries deported under an agreement with the United States. Some of them have received millions of dollars in return, according to documents published by the State Department.
According to a report published earlier this month by Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the Trump administration spent at least $40 million to deport around 300 migrants to countries other than their own.
