Migrants deported from the United States to Equatorial Guinea under a third-country deportation program were confronted by police officers who pointed firearms at them inside a hotel in Malabo on September 5, 2026, according to witnesses and video footage reviewed by Reuters. The confrontation reportedly began as a dispute over access to mobile phones and escalated, with one migrant seen kneeling on the ground while others screamed nearby. Many of the deportees held at the hotel had previously been granted protection from removal by US immigration judges who found they could face torture if returned to their home countries. Lawyers representing some of the deportees said the incident heightened concerns for their safety, with one attorney saying she hoped no one would be seriously injured or killed.