‘Truly horrifying’: Donald Trump now wants to toss Mexicans into African hellhole prison

At this point, you’d think we couldn’t be surprised by the Trump administration‘s capacity for cruelty. After all, we’ve seen ICE goons snatch American citizens off the streets, the administration trampling the constitutional right to due process, and wilfully ignore Supreme Court orders to return wrongfully deported migrants.

The Trump White House was already at the bottom of the moral barrel, but now they’ve punched right through the wooden base and started digging into the dirt below. This latest revelation comes via Reuters, who report that the Trump administration wants to herd people in ICE custody onto a plane and dump them in camps in the North African nation of Libya.

An ardent anti-immigration Republican would probably argue that any Libyans found to be in the United States illegally should be sent “back home”, regardless of circumstances. But the Trump White House is going further than this, planning to send Filipino, Laotian, Vietnamese, and – incredibly – Mexicans to Libya.

The Libya solution

"The relatives of one Mexican national told Reuters he had been told to sign a document allowing for his deportation to the African nation."

Nobody should be sent there, but *extremely disturbing* that a Mexican citizen may be headed to Libya.

Is Mexico's government aware? pic.twitter.com/kTl5aEe8W4

— Anthony LaMesa (@ajlamesa) May 7, 2025

As per the Reuters story, the relatives of a Mexican man in ICE custody say he’s told them officials have attempted to force him to sign a document consenting to his removal to Libya. Other detained Mexicans have a similar story, with one “pleading with immigration officials to be sent to Mexico”, which is only 200 miles from the detention center. As that man’s family says: “He’s literally closer to his hometown in Mexico and begging them to send him back. … He’s ready to return.”

Can a judge stop them?

U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy has stepped in to try and block this, issuing a restraining order to “prevent non-citizen removals to third countries, including but not limited to Libya and Saudi Arabia”.

But a single judge standing in the path of the Trump administration isn’t much of a defense nowadays. The White House is already in violation of a Supreme Court order that requires them to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia from the Salvadoran CECOT prison, they previously disregarded an order that removal flights to El Salvador turn back, and have even arrested a judge they accuse of obstructing ICE’s thugs.

Donald Trump was quizzed about this plan at the Oval Office but refused to confirm or deny the plans, simply saying, “You’ll have to ask Homeland Security”. Reporters did just that, receiving no response.

Make no mistake, sending Mexicans to Libya is effectively a death sentence. The Global Detention Project describes conditions in militia-run Libyan detention facilities as “deplorable”, underlining that there are “frequent shortages of water and food; over-crowding is endemic; detainees can experience physical mistreatment and torture; forced labour and slavery are rife; and there is a stark absence of oversight.”

But, from the Trump administration’s perspective, cruelty and horror are the point. The hope is that the fate of those sent to Libya will be so horrible that it’ll discourage people from attempting to enter the United States illegally. Their opinion of the poor souls consigned to hell to fuel this message? “Sucks to be them, but we won’t lose any sleep over it”.