Refugees from Bhutan and Nepal escape ethnic cleansing in their homeland and seek refuge in the US. However, under President Trump’s administration, they are now being deported back to refugee camps.

A Bhutanese Nepali refugee named Aasis Subedi finds himself once again in the same Nepalese refugee camp he spent part of his childhood, this time stateless. Last month, Subedi and two dozen community members from across the US were deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officers to Bhutan, a country where they had never set foot before. Upon arrival in Bhutan, Subedi and three others were immediately rejected by Bhutanese authorities and then expelled to India, where they fled to a refugee camp in Nepal. Subedi, who had been serving time for a third-degree felony offense in Columbus, Ohio, is among the over 100,000 Bhutanese Nepalis who fled ethnic cleansing and were made stateless by the Bhutanese government in the 1980s. Since 2008, more than 90,000 Bhutanese Nepalis have been resettled in the US. However, the Trump administration has disrupted the community’s lives. Subedi and several others have been declared missing in India. Ice claims Subedi was deported under a targeted enforcement operation, despite US laws prohibiting the deportation of individuals to countries where their safety may be at risk. Thousands of Bhutanese Nepalis have settled in parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania, contributing to local economies and adding vibrancy to the region. Immigrants have played a crucial role in helping local economies grow and creating a tax base for city authorities. However, a crippling fear has now gripped immigrant communities across the country. Subedi, who came to the US through a government refugee relocation program in 2016, had been working as a machine operator in Pennsylvania before his arrest in Columbus last July. He is currently living in a bamboo-made hut in the same refugee camp where his father resides. Subedi expresses his desire to return to the US, where his family is.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/21/us-deports-bhutanese-refugee-stateless-limbo