US Moves to Reverse Egyptian Man’s Deportation to Africa

The Trump administration said Friday that it has begun facilitating the return of Ahmed Soliman, a 31-year-old Egyptian national deported to Equatorial Guinea in April, marking a rare instance of the U.S. government working to reverse a third-country deportation. The move follows an Oct. 6 federal court order requiring the Department of Homeland Security to bring him back and report how it plans to do so.

According to NPR, the administration said it is working “collaboratively” with Soliman’s lawyers to locate and contact him and is “beginning the process to facilitate” his return, per filings from Timothy Courchaine, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona.

A Case That Tests a Controversial Policy

Soliman was born in Egypt and brought to the United States by his family at age 4, growing up in Arizona and becoming a green card holder. He is gay and had won protections from a U.S. immigration judge barring his deportation to Egypt, where he could be persecuted for his sexuality. His attorneys said relatives in Egypt bearing the same distinctive last name had been tortured, imprisoned, and disappeared.

He lost his immigration status after a 2023 conviction relating to a car accident he caused while driving under the influence. In interviews, Soliman said he had turned to drugs as a teenager after being raised in a conservative religious family and realizing he was gay.

The Trump administration instead deported him to Equatorial Guinea, which ranks among the least free countries in the world, according to Freedom House. His attorneys say he was told where he was being sent only minutes before being forced onto a chartered ICE flight, and that his immediate request for a credible fear interview was ignored. When he asked to see his passport or travel document, federal agents eventually admitted they did not have one.

“I came here as a ghost,” Soliman told The American Prospect last month.

A Judge Finds a Due Process Violation

Arizona District Court Judge John C. Hinderaker, an appointee of President Trump, ruled that DHS violated the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment when it removed Soliman to a country with no connection to him.

“It is unrebutted that he has since been held under armed guard; threatened at gunpoint; and arrested, beaten, and held incommunicado by Equatorial Guinean authorities,” Hinderaker wrote in his order. The judge ordered DHS to “take all reasonable steps within their control” to facilitate Soliman’s release and return, and to ensure his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent abroad.

The judge also rejected the Justice Department’s argument that, because Soliman is covered by the class action known as D.V.D. v. DHS and the Supreme Court has allowed the policy to continue pending review, he should not be permitted to bring an individual claim. DHS has 30 days to appeal to the Ninth Circuit.

DHS told NPR it would comply with lawful court orders and that Soliman would continue to receive due process. “But the end result will be the same — he will not remain in the U.S. This administration will not ignore the rule of law,” a DHS spokesperson said.

Held Under Armed Guard

Since his arrival, Soliman has been detained at the Bamy hotel in Malabo, a decommissioned, government-owned facility owned by the president’s family. Court filings and reporting describe detainees being held under armed guard, threatened at gunpoint, assaulted, and denied food, toothpaste, and toilet paper.

In a Sept. 3 incident captured on cellphone video, an Equatorial Guinean police officer pointed an assault rifle at Soliman and two other men while a supervisor repeatedly shouted, “Shoot him!” Days after Reuters and The American Prospect published accounts of the incident, witnesses said Soliman and Eritrean national Samson Birhane had bags placed over their heads, were handcuffed, and were taken from the hotel. Soliman has been held incommunicado since Sept. 11 and was reportedly hospitalized in early October for an unknown reason.

“We’re all just really hopeful that this could be the beginning of getting them home,” Dana Camilleri, one of Soliman’s attorneys, told NPR. “Because they’re in an awful situation, and our government put them there.”

Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) has been a vocal advocate for his return. In a statement after the ruling, she said, “I am relieved that the courts have affirmed what we knew all along: Ahmed’s deportation to a third country was unlawful and needlessly put his life in danger. Rather than dragging out the legal process, the U.S. government must act immediately to facilitate his safe return.” As ABC15 Arizona reported, Grijalva also urged the administration to suspend all third-country deportations.

The Broader Third-Country Deportation Program

The case has drawn attention because it offers a potential template for challenging a policy the administration has pursued aggressively. The White House has concluded deals with more than 30 countries to deport migrants to nations where they have no ties, spending roughly $40 million to broker the arrangements, per NPR. The U.S. Supreme Court last month allowed the administration to resume third-country deportations for now while agreeing to hear full argument in December on whether the policy is legal and whether lower courts had jurisdiction to block it.

Equatorial Guinea’s agreement with the U.S., dated Oct. 2, 2025, does not cap the number of transfers. According to Third Country Deportation Watch, a project of Refugees International and Human Rights First, 66 people were sent to the country across seven flights between November 2025 and August 2026. Many had previously been granted withholding of removal or protection under the Convention Against Torture. All 29 individuals from the first two flights were ultimately forcibly returned to their home countries — a chain refoulement that rights groups say the agreement’s diplomatic assurances failed to prevent. The agreement’s terms were accompanied by a $7.5 million transfer of State Department refugee-assistance funds to Equatorial Guinea, an amount a Senate Foreign Relations Committee minority report said “far exceeds all U.S. foreign assistance provided to the country over the last eight years combined.”

What to Watch

Hinderaker’s order is the second time a judge has forced the government to return a third-country deportee from an African nation. A Colorado judge previously ordered the return of Brayan Omar Sanchez Servellon, a Honduran man sent to the Central African Republic.

Soliman’s attorneys remain cautious. DHS can appeal, and the administration has signaled it will continue defending the policy even as it complies with this order. The Supreme Court’s December arguments in D.V.D. v. DHS are likely to determine whether third-country deportations can continue on a large scale — and whether cases like Soliman’s become the exception or the start of a broader correction.