U.S. plans to deport seriously ill migrants detained in Florida to Africa after Mexico refused to take them
Relatives and activists denounced on Wednesday that U.S. immigration authorities have notified several seriously ill migrants detained in South Florida that they will be deported to Africa this week, after Mexico refused to receive them because of their medical conditions.
The notifications reached detainees at the Krome North Processing Center in Miami and the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach, facilities operated by private companies for ICE. The organization The Workers Circle warned that officers told those affected they would be sent to African countries because neither Mexico nor their home countries would accept their admission due to their medical conditions.
Lawyers and relatives said the removals will affect patients with uncontrolled diabetes and acute pancreatitis, and warned that journeys to the Central African Republic and Burundi can last up to 24 hours, with severe physical restraints and no continuous access to medication or specialized care.
One of those affected is Cuban national Noslen Sendra González, who has type 2 diabetes, needs insulin and was hospitalized three times for episodes of necrotizing acute pancreatitis during his detention, his wife, Anisley Cortez, said. Sendra was detained in November 2025 at an ICE appointment and spent five months at Alligator Alcatraz, the already shuttered Everglades detention center. According to his wife, on Sunday officers told him they could send him to Africa because neither Cuba nor Mexico would accept him. “In Africa he will die,” Cortez said, asking for his release. He has had a habeas corpus petition pending before a federal court in Miami since May.
Immigration lawyer Shalyn Fluharty, who represents several of the migrants, said there will foreseeably be two flights this week, probably Thursday and Friday, to the Central African Republic and possibly to Burundi, although the dates and destinations are not officially confirmed. ICE has provided no information about the flights.
The practice of sending migrants to third countries with no prior ties was upheld last month by the U.S. Supreme Court, which on September 29 suspended an order from the First Circuit Court of Appeals. An investigation by Forbidden Stories with 24 media outlets counted at least 25,447 people deported to third countries between January 2025 and August 2026, the vast majority to Mexico.
Photo: DIMEnoticias
Source: DIMEnoticias