The Legal Aid Society is condemning the United States government’s unlawful deportation of Orville Etoria, a client and former U.S. lawful permanent resident, to Eswatini, a country in Africa he had never been to and with which he has no ties, rather than Jamaica, his country of citizenship, which was willing and able to accept his return.

The U.S. State Department has noted credible reports of torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment in Eswatini. For more than six weeks, Mr. Etoria has been held in prison without charge, without access to legal counsel, and without basic due process. Legal Aid was retained by his family.

“We demand immediate answers from the U.S. government about the conditions of Mr. Etoria’s confinement, what steps are being taken to secure his safety and enable communication with his attorneys, release him from custody, and facilitate his return to Jamaica,” reads a statement from Legal Aid.

Before his shocking deportation, Mr. Etoria had been living in New York, following the law and reporting regularly to ICE under an order of supervision. When ICE asked him to obtain a Jamaican passport earlier this year, he complied. But instead of removing him to Jamaica, as his documentation clearly allowed and as common sense would dictate, the U.S. government inexplicably and illegally sent him to Eswatini.

“We call on the U.S. and Eswatini governments to immediately grant access to counsel, provide answers to the families, release our client from prison, facilitate his return to Jamaica, and uphold his basic human rights,” Legal Aid’s statement continues. “We will not rest until Mr. Etoria is safe, accounted for, and reunited with his family.”