The Biden administration is reportedly flying previously deported Cameroonians, whose asylum claims were initially determined to be invalid, back into the United States. The development has been revealed through interviews with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) staff and internal agency memos reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon.
This unannounced program appears to be a response to a February 2022 Human Rights Watch report that highlighted the alleged mistreatment of dozens of Cameroonians deported between 2019 and 2021. During that period, an estimated 80 to 90 Cameroonians were deported from the United States. However, recent actions indicate that some of these individuals are now being flown back under a program with little historical precedent.
All individuals deported under the previous administration were found not to have valid asylum claims. The decision to return them marks the latest in a series of reversals of the Trump administration’s immigration policies by President Joe Biden. On his first day in office, Biden rolled back several border policies, paused southern border wall construction, and ended the policy that required asylum seekers to wait in Mexico before their court hearings. Critics argue these changes have contributed to a significant increase in illegal border crossings.
“Gutting deportations isn’t enough for the Biden administration, so now they’re apparently bringing back previously deported illegal aliens,” said Jon Feere, former ICE official and director of investigations at the Center for Immigration Studies. “These are people who have already had their cases closed, one way or another, and they’ve been returned home.”
Internal memos show ICE officials collaborating with outside nonprofits to facilitate the relocation of these Cameroonians. One email from earlier this year reviewed by the Free Beacon showed Fatma Marouf, director of the Immigrant Rights Clinic at Texas A&M University, coordinating with an ICE official about the arrival of a migrant at Washington-Dulles airport in Virginia. According to ICE officials, airports around the country are being used as entry points for these migrants to keep the public unaware of the program and avoid concentrating the migrants in a single location. Marouf did not respond to a request for comment.
The official rationale for the program, as per the reviewed internal memos, is to avoid a “potential lawsuit.” There is pending litigation in New York concerning documents related to the alleged abuse of Cameroonian migrants, though no court has ordered their return.
“These individuals were deported by the order of a court after they were afforded all due process rights,” said Tom Blank, former ICE chief of staff. “For DHS to arbitrarily reverse court orders to satisfy complaints from an activist group makes a joke out of the entire legal immigration process. It looks like outside activist groups now run the DHS immigration process instead of the courts.”
Both current and former ICE officials expressed concerns that this program might set a precedent for future cases. Should any activist group threaten legal action regarding migrant mistreatment, they fear the Biden administration might opt to return the asylum seekers rather than face litigation.
Since Biden took office, more than eight million migrants have illegally crossed the northern and southern borders, with millions released into the nation’s interior, straining state and local resources. Left-wing activist groups have long challenged DHS policies, and in recent years, some of these groups have received federal funding for their operations.
For instance, Al Otro Lado, which recently sued Customs and Border Protection over an asylum program, received over $3 million in taxpayer funds between 2018 and 2022. If successful, their lawsuit could halt a federal program that denies border entry to migrants without an asylum interview.
According to a senior ICE official, at least four migrants have been flown back to the mid-Atlantic region since March, with up to 28 Cameroonians expected to be returned eventually. ICE did not respond to a request for comment.
The outlet explains that typically, the Department of Homeland Security only returns previously deported migrants in rare circumstances, usually requiring a judge’s order following a prosecution error. However, in the case of the Cameroonians, ICE appears to be working with nonprofits like the Immigrant Rights Clinic.
ICE staff have expressed frustration with the Biden administration’s policies since 2021, noting a significant drop in deportations. Fewer than 5 percent of the 3.2 million migrants encountered at the border were removed by the agency in 2023, a deliberate policy shift under Biden. DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas revised the agency’s guidelines to prioritize deportations of individuals who pose threats to national security, public safety, and border security.
Despite these changes, immigration remains a significant concern for voters. A recent CBS News/YouGov survey found that over 60 percent of registered voters favor a new national program to deport all undocumented immigrants, highlighting the political sensitivity surrounding Biden’s border security policies as he approaches his reelection campaign.
