South Sudan took in eight deportees from the United States in a bid to normalize relations with the US, the African nation’s foreign affairs ministry said.

South Sudanese authorities say that eight men deported from the United States are now in government custody in the African country.

The eight men deported to South Sudan were deceived by immigration enforcement officials, being told they were being sent on a short trip from Texas to Louisiana rather than their actual destination when first taken out of the country,

Assistant Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the deportation flight carrying the deportees landed in South Sudan just before midnight EST on Friday.

I have worked in South Sudan as a diplomat. It is on the brink of civil war, and its government has a horrific human rights record.

Tom Homan said immigrants deported to South Sudan are no longer in United States Custody, and that he doesn't know if they are being detained there.

The border czar also said he was unsure of the status of the eight men recently sent to South Sudan — or whether they are detained there — saying that they are no longer in U.S. custody.

South Sudan initially refused the first deportee sent to Juba in April, arguing that he was from the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio subsequently revoked all visas for South Sudanese passport holders, citing the country’s refusal to accept deported nationals.

Eight deported "migrants" who had been held at a U.S. military base in Djibouti are bound for South Sudan aboard a military aircraft that took off on Friday night.