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Police in Cameroon Arrest Journalists Probing Trump’s Secretive Deportation Campaign

HeadlineFeb 20, 2026

Press freedom groups are raising alarm over the arrest of four journalists in Cameroon who attempted to investigate Trump’s secretive scheme to deport third-country immigrants to the African nation. The New York Times reports police forces detained the group of journalists at a state-run compound in the capital, Yaoundé, along with an attorney representing several immigrants detained there, none of whom are from Cameroon and who were deported from the United States. Many of the immigrants were sent to Cameroon in violation of court orders protecting them from deportation to their home countries over fear of persecution. Cameroonian police reportedly confiscated the journalists’ phones, cameras and laptops, claiming the journalists had obtained sensitive government information. All five people have been released, among them the attorney Joseph Awah Fru and a freelance journalist who’s worked for the BBC, Randy Joe Sa’ah. The three other journalists were based in Cameroon and working on assignment for the Associated Press.

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