FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 24, 2026
Contact: Adolfo Flores, adolfo@florescomms.com
Cambodian Man Unlawfully Detained for Five Months in Eswatini Under Trump Administration’s Third-Country Deportation Program Is Released
Pheap Rom was held without charges in Africa after completing 15-year U.S. sentence; 17 others remain trapped in third-country deportation system
A Cambodian man who spent five months detained without criminal charges or any other legal justification in the African nation of Eswatini under the Trump administration’s illegal third-country deportation system was released Tuesday and is on his way to be repatriated to Cambodia. Pheap Rom was deported to Eswatini, a country to which he had no connection at all, on Oct. 4, 2025, where he has been detained at the country’s maximum security prison since.
Rom came to the United States as a refugee when he was three years old. After completing a 15 year sentence in U.S. state prison from May 11, 2009 until Nov. 13, 2024 for attempted murder, he was detained by ICE for just under 11 months before being deported to Eswatini, a country where he had no ties and had never been. Rom was imprisoned at Matsapha Correctional Centre, along with other men subjected to the Trump administration’s third-country deportations, despite having already served their sentences in the United States and committed no new crimes.
“I’ve taken accountability for my crimes. I completed my 15‑year sentence and used that time to rehabilitate myself so I could have a second chance in life. I understood I would be deported and accepted that,” Rom said. “What I don’t accept is that I was sent to a country where I have no ties at all and then locked up again, even though I had already paid my debt to society.”
Rom's repatriation to Cambodia demonstrates that direct return to deportees’ home countries remains both feasible and legally required under U.S. immigration law, which mandates that third-country removal only be considered when repatriation is "impracticable, inadvisable, or impossible."
"Pheap Rom's release proves what we have argued from the beginning. These third-country deportations are unnecessary and unlawful," said Tin Thanh Nguyen, Rom's U.S. attorney. "He spent five months imprisoned in a country that is not his own and unable to fully access legal counsel for no legitimate reason."
Rom was one of 10 people sent to Eswatini from the U.S. on Oct. 4, 2025, under a $5.1 million agreement between the two countries to accept up to 160 third-country deportees. He joins Orville Etoria of Jamaica as only the second person to be successfully repatriated from Eswatini since the program began in July 2025. Seventeen others remain detained at Matsapha Correctional Centre, a maximum-security prison without charges, with severely limited or restricted access to legal counsel, and without any clear timeline for resolution.
For months, some of the men were unable to speak with an attorney, and even once limited calls were allowed, they were infrequent, time-limited, and monitored by prison staff.
Despite years of incarceration, deportation to a country he had never known, and months of detention without charges, Rom says he is focused on rebuilding his life and supporting others. He plans to work, eventually start a small business, and continue the kind of informal mentorship he offered to fellow detainees inside Matsapha, such as sharing coping routines like meditation and working out, and urging them to “take it a day at a time.”
“Prison and then being sent here tested me mentally, emotionally, and spiritually,” Rom said. “I knew I couldn’t change the past, so I focused on rehabilitating myself, taking every program I could and holding on to hope and faith. That’s what kept me going and gave me strength to believe there could still be a second chance.”
Despite his own freedom, Rom expressed deep concern for those he left behind at Matsapha Correctional Centre. Seventeen men from Vietnam, Cuba, Laos, Yemen, the Philippines, Chad, Ethiopia, Congo, Somalia, Tanzania, and Sudan remain detained in Eswatini under the same third-country deportation program. The latest group of men were sent to Eswatini on or around March 12.
“These men, at the end of the day, they’re still human beings,” Rom said. “They’re fathers, brothers, grandfathers, sons, uncles, nephews. Everybody is happy for me. They told me, ‘You got a second chance now, don’t forget about us.’ I’m not. I’m going to stay in contact, and I keep telling them their day is going to come soon.”
Nguyen, Rom’s attorney, said he was grateful to the Royal Kingdom of Cambodia for working so swiftly from the start to process the request for his client’s travel documents that would allow him to be repatriated. Nguyen also called for immediate action–especially from the Governments of Laos and Vietnam–to secure the release and repatriation of the 17 men who remain detained in Eswatini
"Pheap Rom's successful return to Cambodia exposes the fundamental illegality of this entire system," Nguyen said. "Every person sent to Eswatini could and should have been repatriated directly to their home country. Instead, they were imprisoned for months in a legal black hole, denied access to attorneys. Pheap Rom's release is a victory, but it does not cure the systemic injustice and punitive nature of third-country deportations. This program must end before more people suffer the same fate."
Background: A Human Rights Watch investigation found that the U.S.-Eswatini agreement is part of a broader pattern of third-country deportation deals across Africa. Similar agreements exist with Rwanda ($7.5 million for up to 250 deportees), South Sudan, Ghana, and Uganda. Human Rights Watch called these agreements "horrifying violations of immigrants' human rights" that violate international law.
A federal judge recently ruled that the Trump administration’s third-country deportation policy is unlawful. On Feb. 25, 2026, U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy found that DHS’ current policy failed to provide meaningful notice and a meaningful opportunity for people to raise country-specific fear claims before deportation. The Trump administration has appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. The decision highlights the legal flaws in the system that sent Rom and others to detention in third countries like Eswatini. However, the ruling does not immediately change conditions for people already deported to third countries. On March 16, 2026, the First Circuit granted the Trump administration’s request to pause Judge Murphy’s February 25th decision pending an expedited appeal.
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Adolfo Flores is the founder of Flores Strategic Communications, a media consulting firm specializing in legal and immigration cases. Drawing on more than a decade of experience as a journalist for The Wall Street Journal, BuzzFeed News and the Los Angeles Times, he brings a sharp understanding of legal systems, public opinion and narrative strategy to his work. His background in national and immigration reporting informs his approach to fact-driven, legally precise and compelling media outreach.
