The report found that some parents covered by a 2023 court settlement were detained or deported during the administration’s expanded immigration enforcement campaign, resulting in renewed family separations. Attorneys representing affected families said several deportations occurred despite legal safeguards intended to prevent such actions.

One case involved 11-year-old Ederson Galicia Alva, who was separated from his mother at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2018 and later reunited. In 2025, his mother was detained and deported to Guatemala, forcing the family to leave the United States before a federal judge ordered their return last month.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which led the lawsuit that ended the original family separation policy, said the renewed separations have caused further trauma to children and families already affected by earlier government actions.

The Department of Homeland Security said it complies with court orders and defended its immigration enforcement efforts, arguing that deportations and detentions are carried out under existing law.

The findings highlight renewed legal and political scrutiny of the administration’s immigration policies as federal authorities pursue large-scale deportation operations across the country.

The Bamy Hotel on Bioko Island, owned by the family of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, has housed at least 32 deportees since late 2025, many of whom had previously received protection orders from U.S. immigration judges, the report said. Most have since been deported to African countries they fled, despite fears of persecution.

Migrants from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Angola and Mauritania described psychological pressure, restricted movement and uncertainty over their fate while being held inside the largely empty hotel. Several detainees told AP they feared imprisonment or death if returned home.

The Trump administration has expanded third-country deportation agreements with developing nations as part of its immigration crackdown. Rights advocates argue the policy circumvents asylum protections by transferring migrants to countries with poor human rights records.

Washington declined to comment on details of the arrangement with Equatorial Guinea, while the State Department said it remained committed to ending “illegal and mass immigration.” Equatorial Guinea’s government did not respond to requests for comment

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The oil-rich Central African nation, ruled by Obiang for more than four decades, has long faced criticism from rights groups and U.S. officials over allegations of corruption, repression and abuses against dissidents.