DR ‹ › Farah, a 21-year-old Moroccan woman, says she was deported from the United States despite receiving a protection order from a U.S. immigration judge. She was first sent to Cameroon, then returned to Morocco, the country she had fled after her family discovered her homosexuality. She told the Associated Press that she was beaten by her family and her partner's relatives when they discovered their relationship. After being expelled from her home and fleeing to another city, she said her family tracked her down and «tried to kill» her. Farah and her partner decided to flee, traveling first to Brazil on visas before crossing six countries over several weeks to reach the U.S. border, where they applied for asylum in early 2025. Instead of being released, Farah said she was detained for nearly a year in Arizona and Louisiana. Denied asylum, she received a protection order in August 2025 from a U.S. immigration judge, who ruled that she could not be deported to Morocco because it would endanger her life. Her partner, however, was denied both asylum and protection and was deported. Just days before a hearing on her release, Farah said she was handcuffed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and placed on a flight to Cameroon, a country she had never visited. In Cameroon, the young Moroccan woman was detained in a facility in Yaoundé. «They asked me if I wanted to stay in Cameroon, and I told them that I can't stay in Cameroon and risk my life in a place where I would still be endangered», she said. She was eventually flown back to Morocco. Immigration lawyer Alma David told the AP that eight deportees on the January flight to Cameroon, including Farah, had received protection orders. She described the move as a legal «loophole», arguing it violated due process rights and U.S. immigration law. Cameroon is among at least seven African countries that have accepted third-country deportees from the United States. Back in Morocco, Farah says she struggles with the stigma and fear that forced her to flee in the first place. «What was done to me was unfair. A normal deportation would have been fair, but to go through so much and lose so much, only to be deported in such a way, is cruel».
