Editorial: Trump shames CPDM gov't with deportations!.

The White House said in a statement that hundreds of "illegal immigrant criminals" were arrested "last week" and hundreds of others were flown out of the country on military aircraft as President Trump's promised mass deportation operation got underway.

Following Trump's executive fiat, a US defense official said there had been three flights last week to Guatemala "via military aircraft. The largest massive deportation operation in history is well underway".

Trump told reporters later that "I'm also signing an executive order to instruct the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security to begin preparing the 30,000-person migrant facility at Guantanamo Bay".

The Bay on the Cuban coast is said to have been leased in perpetuity from Cuba since 1903. In 2002, then US president, George W. Bush, used it to detain suspects in the wake of the war on terror. It has become synonymous with torture and with orange jumpsuits. Beyond the prison (which only has 15 inmates remaining) the site houses a US naval base and a small migrant holding centre - used at the moment to detain migrants who are intercepted at sea trying to reach America, according to US media.

On taking office on January 20, Trump signed executive orders that would give the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE, greater ability to conduct enforcement actions in sensitive areas such as schools, markets, work sites etc in search of undocumented immigrants subject to fast-track deportation.

Further, US Customs and Border Protection announced the removal of the scheduling functionality of a computer application that allows migrants to share information and plan interviews with immigration authorities before reaching the US border. All future asylum appointments were canceled.

Trump also laid out other priorities in his inauguration speech. 

“We will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came,” he said.

In his inaugural address, he added that: “I will end the practice of catch and release.” The phrase refers to a practice of provisionally releasing migrants into the US during the Biden administration while they wait for their immigration court date.

Abrogating his predecessor's decisions, Trump's mass deportations also target Cameroonians, creating fear and confusion among immigrants, who are now left to wonder what to do if ICE comes knocking.

Trump’s new policy would also allow ICE to conduct enforcement raids in or near sensitive areas. 

“Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest. The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense,” acting Homeland Security Secretary, Benjamine Huffman, said in a statement.

US officials have also expanded the procedure to speed up deportations to include undocumented immigrants anywhere in the US who cannot prove they’ve lived in the US continuously for two years or more.

The fast-track deportation procedure, known as “expedited removal,” allows immigration authorities to remove any individual without a hearing before an immigration judge. In doing so, the administration is broadening its powers to deport undocumented immigrants.

According to the United States 2010 census, there were 16,894 Americans of Cameroonian origin. The 2023 American Community Survey indicated that there are 90,749 Cameroonian-born people living in the United States, among them some 4,000; who are benefiting from protection due to the conflict in the North West and South West Regions.

As Trump's policy spreads, there are fears that more than the 1,736 targeted within a week would increase.

There is no question that every country will not tolerate illegal immigrants in its land, but what has been shameful is the inhuman humiliation deportees are facing from the hands of the American officials.

Videos in the social media show some of the deportees handcuffed, shackled and being led into military planes, not to their countries as is required by International Convention but to a "concentration camp on an island in Cuba".

The facility has been criticised by human rights groups and legal campaigners as it breaches international laws and conditions.

Cuban president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, deemed Trump's decision as "an act of brutality." In a message on his X account, he described the base as one "located in illegally occupied Cuba territory".

How will Trump return them to their countries, some of whom are likely to be Cameroonians and other Africans?   

African governments, in particular that of the ruling CPDM, should search their consciences and answer why fellow compatriots are risking their lives, among them, teachers, journalists, medical staff, academics etc to go abroad when their countries are blessed with abundant resources.

The priority of Trump's African policy, as is being explained in many diplomatic circles, is not going to be about aid, trade, debts or even democracy.

His America First policy will be "only after seeing what US immigration policy has in store for the relationship first".

The only way the Cameroon government can stop the shame illegal immigration is causing the country in brain drain and deportations that violate human rights, is to provide an enabling democratic environment of freedoms and equal opportunities; especially for the youth, through an educational system that grooms job creators, not asylum seekers and refugees.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3358 of Monday February 03, 2025