Cross-continental collaboration and sensitive source work expose the human peril of third-country deportations

In a deeply empathetic and distinctive enterprise report, Dakar-based correspondent Mark Banchereau uncovered the harrowing reality of the U.S. policy of deporting migrants to third countries. Spotting her story on social media, Banchereau navigated erratic communications and severe access hurdles to build trust with Daniela Fuentes, a transgender Cuban woman deported by the Trump administration to the Central African Republic — a hostile environment where she survives in isolation, forced to conceal her breasts, lower her voice and wear men’s clothes to evade anti-LGBTQ persecution. The package served as a textbook example of multi-bureau collaboration across three continents. Directed by U.S. immigration news editor Elliot Spagat and edited by Deputy Director of Top Stories Janelle Cogan, the narrative was reinforced by Caribbean news director Cristiana Mesquita’s reporting from Fuentes’ birthplace in Cuba and immigration reporter Tim Sullivan’s contextual analysis of U.S. immigration enforcement in Washington. Published the same day a Human Rights Watch report found more than 500 migrants had been expelled to Africa, the AP’s exclusive coverage put an unforgettable, intimate human face on a complex and fiercely contested global policy.