JUBA – A Laotian man deported by the United States to South Sudan returned to Laos on Thursday after spending more than a year in detention in Africa, an ordeal his attorney said was unnecessary.
Thongxay Nilakout, 49, had agreed to return to Laos before being deported by the United States to South Sudan, his attorney, Tin Nguyen, said. A Lao consular official had also informed Nilakout’s family that a travel document for him had been issued.
Nilakout departed South Sudan on Thursday afternoon for Vientiane, Laos’ capital, Nguyen said. He had been held in Juba, the country’s capital, since July 2025.
South Sudan’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday that it had coordinated Nilakout’s repatriation with Laos. The Lao government provided assurances that he would not face torture or other ill-treatment after his return.
“Thongxay’s deportation to Laos is not just a relief for his family, it is proof of what we argued from day one. He should have been sent to Laos,” Nguyen said in a statement.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it was preparing answers to questions about Nilakout’s case and asked for additional time to respond.
Nilakout and seven other men were transferred to Africa in May 2025. After a federal judge halted their deportation to South Sudan while they were in flight, the group was first diverted to a U.S. military base in Djibouti. They reached Juba on a military aircraft after the Supreme Court allowed their removal to proceed.
The eight men were confined in a gated residence guarded by armed personnel. Each had a criminal conviction in the United States, but all had completed their prison sentences before being placed in immigration detention.
Advocacy groups Human Rights First and Refugees International, which have tracked the deportations, say hundreds of people have been removed from the United States to African countries that are not their countries of origin.
About a dozen African countries have accepted deportees from the United States who are nationals of other countries. Some have reportedly received millions of dollars in payments, although the details of any agreement involving South Sudan remain unclear.
The decision to send the men to South Sudan drew particular criticism because of the country’s political instability and poor human rights record. More than 500,000 people were displaced by armed conflict there in 2025, according to the United Nations.
Nilakout moved to the United States as a child in 1980 after his family fled Laos. Before resettling there, the family spent time in a refugee camp in Thailand, his attorney said.
In 1995, Nilakout was sentenced to life in prison without parole for his role in the killing of a German tourist during an armed robbery in Southern California. He was 17 when the crime occurred.
His attorney said Nilakout became eligible for parole after a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling determined that mandatory life-without-parole sentences for juvenile offenders were unconstitutional. He was released in 2023 and was working as a restaurant cook when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained him in March 2025.
Four of the original eight deportees remain in South Sudan, including two Burmese nationals and two Cuban nationals. A Congolese national deported separately has since joined them, bringing the total number of detainees to five, Nguyen said.
South Sudan’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that five third-country deportees remain in the country. It said officials were working with the governments involved and international partners to arrange their safe and humane repatriation.
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Falzetta reported from Nairobi, Kenya.
