Latest news with #departmentofHomelandSecurity
The Citizen
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Citizen
SA ‘deeply concerned' by Eswatini to house dangerous criminals
Last month, the US announced a flight carrying five of the country's most dangerous criminals in its prisons landed in Eswatini. The South African government has raised deep concerns over the Kingdom of Eswatini's decision to house a group of 'dangerous criminals' of various nationalities whose countries have refused to take back. Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) spokesperson Chrispin Phiri said they received confirmation from the Eswatini government spokesperson Thabile Mdluli that a group of criminals from various countries landed in Eswatini after being transported from the United States of America on a special flight. 'More criminals' Phiri said there was a potential of more criminals with these profiles to follow. 'Their arrival was also followed by an announcement from the United States department of Homeland Security indicating that this group of individuals from several countries, and some of whom have been convicted of serious offences and crimes, have been deported from the United States of America and have arrived in the Kingdom of Eswatini.' ALSO READ: Dirco slams old travel advisory about terrorism in South Africa Deportation Last month, the US Department of Homeland Security announced that a flight carrying five of the country's most dangerous criminals in its prisons were deported from the US had landed in eSwatini. 'Today, DHS conducted a third-country deportation flight to eSwatini. These criminal illegal aliens are so uniquely barbaric that their home countries refused to take them back. 'Under the leadership of President Donald Trump, we are removing these convicted criminals from our soil so they can never hurt another American victim,' the department said. The department deported five men from Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, Cuba and Yemen. They were convicted of child rape, murder, robbery, second-degree homicide and assault, among other crimes. Not wanted Phiri said Dirco had also taken note that Eswatini and the USA indicated that they would collaborate with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to facilitate the transit of the prisoner to their countries of origin. 'Dirco also noted that the countries of origin of these deportees are unlikely to receive them. 'Whilst respecting the sovereign decision of the Government of Eswatini, the Government of the Republic of South Africa is deeply concerned about the profile of these individuals and the potential adverse impact on South Africa's national security and immigration policy, given the geographical proximity between the two sisterly countries,' Phiri said. ALSO READ: SA man trying to jump fence into Swaziland nabbed with over R400K
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump channels his inner Putin against 2 critics. That should make you sick
Donald Trump signed an executive order that, essentially, would make truth a crime. He wants to use the Department of Justice to make truthtellers criminals. He wants to govern the United States the way that Vladimir Putin rules over Russia, the way that Kim Jong Il uses internment in North Korea, the way that dictators from the last century, like Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong and You-Know-Who in Germany, sought to criminalize honest criticism or any opinion that didn't please Dear Leader. This should not just trouble you; it should make you sick to your stomach. Trump signed an executive order directing the attorney general and the Homeland Security secretary to investigate Chris Krebs, a former cyber security official who oversaw the 2020 election, and Miles Taylor, chief of staff at the department of Homeland Security during Trump's term, who anonymously wrote an opinion article for The New York Times in 2018. In that op-ed, Taylor described how he and others within the administration believed in much of Trump's policies but tried to keep Trump from going off the rails. For example, he wrote, 'The root of the problem is the president's amorality. Anyone who works with him knows he is not moored to any discernible first principles that guide his decision making.' Essentially, Trump wants to make a criminal of Krebs for telling the truth and make a criminal of Taylor for publicly expressing an honest assessment of Trump. One that, given Trump's actions, seems 100% accurate. Krebs declined to comment on Trump's actions. Taylor wrote on social media, 'I said this would happen. Dissent isn't unlawful. It certainly isn't treasonous. America is headed down a dark path.' He added: 'Never has a man so inelegantly proved another man's point.' What is the end game of these ridiculous investigations? Stripping the men of their citizenship and shipping them off to prison in El Salvador? Would Congress and the courts, who've done nothing to rein in Trump so far, allow such a thing to happen to American citizens? Trump is taking the first baby step on the bloody path worn by his dictator pal in Russia. Opinion: Why is it OK for Trump to choose golf over honoring dead soldiers? Opposition voices don't last long over there. Google the name of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov. Murdered. Consider what happened to dissident Alexei Navalny in prison. Oleg Orlov, co-chair of Memorial, a Russian human rights group, said, 'Russia is no longer an authoritarian state -– it is a totalitarian state. All these repressions are aimed at suppressing any independent expression about Russia's political system, about the actions of the authorities, or any independent civil activists.' That doesn't happen all at once. A dictatorial regime like that begins, for example, when a leader uses the justice system to investigate a man for telling the truth and makes a criminal of another for publicly expressing an honest assessment of that leader. Reach Montini at Like this column? Get more opinions straight into your email inbox by signing up for our free opinions newsletter, which publishes Monday through Friday. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Trump order against Miles Taylor and Chris Krebs is sick | Opinion
