Transgender woman deported to Central African Republic from US
Daniela Fuentes, a Cuban national, was sent to Bangui under a US policy allowing deportations to third countries.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Transgender woman deported to Central African Republic from US
Photograph: The Toronto Star (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Daniela Fuentes, a 32-year-old transgender woman from Cuba, was deported by the US to the Central African Republic on August 29.
- Fuentes lived openly as a woman in Miami, working as a hairdresser and performing in drag, but now hides her identity in Bangui.
- The US policy of deporting individuals to 'third countries' has been allowed to continue by the US Supreme Court.
- More than 500 people, including at least 12 LGBT individuals, have been sent by the US to African countries between January 2025 and August 2026.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 16 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 2 of the 18 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
74/100
Craft
95/100
Hype
15/100
18 sources · methodology
Thin on the right so far
None of the 16 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
Daniela Fuentes, a 32-year-old transgender woman from Cuba, was deported from the United States to the Central African Republic on August 29. Fuentes had been living openly as a woman in Miami, where she worked as a hairdresser and performed in drag. She is now in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, where she wears men's clothing and attempts to conceal her identity.
Fuentes described her situation as difficult, stating she must hide who she is in a country where she has no ties and where advocacy groups have reported rights violations against sexual and gender minorities. She is living in a compound with other male deportees and lacks identification, which prevents her from working. The International Organization for Migration, an agency affiliated with the United Nations, provides food to Fuentes and other deportees.
Disagreement on deportation numbers
Reports differ on the number of people deported to third countries. The Washington Post stated that the US has deported about 25,000 people to more than two dozen countries that are not their own, with the vast majority sent to Mexico. This figure comes from a tally by Third Country Deportation Watch. A Human Rights Watch report cited in the Washington Post indicated that from January 2025 to August 2026, more than 500 people were sent to African countries, including at least 12 LGBT individuals. The US has not released official numbers or details on these deportations.
What the coverage left out
None of the left or centre-rated reports mentioned any specific cost estimates associated with the deportations or the support provided by the International Organization for Migration beyond food.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 6 times, most recently on 8 Oct 2026, 15:30, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
12 rated outlets
- Eleven left-rated reports focused on Daniela Fuentes' experience as a transgender woman deported to the Central African Republic. These reports highlighted her life in Miami, where she lived openly, styling hair and performing in drag, contrasting it with her current need to hide her identity in Bangui. The digests noted that she was sent to a country where transgender people have little legal protection and face marginalisation. Several left-rated digests mentioned the Human Rights Watch report stating that at least 12 LGBT individuals were among more than 500 people sent to African countries between January 2025 and August 2026. The digests also included quotes from Bridget Crawford of Immigration Equality, who called these deportations a predictable result of policies that abandon legal and moral obligations to protect LGBTQ+ immigrants.
Centre
4 rated outlets
- Four centre-rated reports highlighted Daniela Fuentes' deportation to the Central African Republic and her life in Miami. These reports detailed her experiences styling hair and performing in drag, contrasting it with her current situation in Bangui where she must hide her identity. The digests mentioned the US policy of deporting individuals to third countries and the Supreme Court's decision allowing this to continue. The centre-rated reports also included information from a Human Rights Watch report about the number of LGBT individuals deported to African nations. The Washington Top News full report provided more detail on Fuentes' background in Cuba, her journey to the US, and her detention experiences.
Right
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated right has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Transgender woman deported to Central African Republic from US?
- Of the 16 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 75% are rated left, 25% are rated centre, 0% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 18. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Transgender woman deported to Central African Republic from US left or right?
- The story itself is neither. What can be counted is who has covered it, and 75% of the 16 rated outlets on it are rated left — so far this is a story carried mostly by the left. Coverage is still arriving and that can change, which is why the figure is dated rather than fixed.
- Is the coverage of Transgender woman deported to Central African Republic from US biased?
- Transgender woman deported to Central African Republic from US is one event reported by 18 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Transgender woman deported to Central African Republic from US?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Transgender woman deported to Central African Republic from US?
- 18 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- Who is Daniela Fuentes and what happened to her?
- Daniela Fuentes is a 32-year-old transgender woman from Cuba who was deported from the United States to the Central African Republic on August 29. She had been living openly in Miami, but now hides her identity in Bangui.
- What is the US policy that led to this deportation?
- The US has a policy of deporting individuals to 'third countries' that are not their countries of origin. This policy has been allowed to continue by the US Supreme Court, and agreements are often made with receiving governments.
- How many LGBT individuals have been deported to Africa?
- According to a Human Rights Watch report cited in the coverage, between January 2025 and August 2026, at least 12 LGBT individuals were among more than 500 people sent by the United States to African countries.
Read it at the source
18 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
12- Transgender woman deported to Central African Republic in hiding and worried (opens NBC News in a new tab)
- Deported to Central African Republic, a transgender woman who lived openly in Miami is hiding again (opens The Washington Post in a new tab)
The Washington Post — is The Washington Post biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Deported to Central African Republic, a transgender woman who lived openly in Miami is hiding again (opens The Toronto Star in a new tab)
The Toronto Star — is The Toronto Star biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Deported to Central African Republic, a transgender woman who lived openly in Miami is hiding again (opens The Seattle Times in a new tab)
The Seattle Times — is The Seattle Times biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Deported to Central African Republic, a transgender woman who lived openly in Miami is hiding again (opens The Independent (US) in a new tab)
The Independent (US) — is The Independent (US) biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Deported to Central African Republic, a transgender woman who lived openly in Miami is hiding again (opens ABC News in a new tab)
- Deported to Central African Republic, a transgender woman who lived openly in Miami is hiding again (opens Associated Press News in a new tab)
Associated Press News — is Associated Press News biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Deported to Central African Republic, a transgender woman who lived openly in Miami is hiding again (opens The Independent in a new tab)
The Independent — is The Independent biased? Our profile of this outlet
Show 4 more
- Deported to Central African Republic, a transgender woman who lived openly in Miami is hiding again (opens Durango Herald in a new tab)
Durango Herald — is Durango Herald biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Deported to Central African Republic, a transgender woman who lived openly in Miami is hiding again (opens St Catharines Standard in a new tab)
St Catharines Standard — is St Catharines Standard biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Deported to Central African Republic, a transgender woman who lived openly in Miami is hiding again (opens The Record in a new tab)
The Record — is The Record biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Deported to Central African Republic, a transgender woman who lived openly in Miami is hiding again (opens The Hamilton Spectator in a new tab)
The Hamilton Spectator — is The Hamilton Spectator biased? Our profile of this outlet
Centre
4- Deported to Central African Republic, a transgender woman who lived openly in Miami is hiding again – WTOP News (opens Washington Top News in a new tab)
Washington Top News — is Washington Top News biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Deported to Central African Republic, a transgender woman who lived openly in Miami is hiding again (opens mykxlg.com in a new tab)
mykxlg.com — is mykxlg.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Deported to Central African Republic, a transgender woman who lived openly in Miami is hiding again (opens My Mother Lode in a new tab)
My Mother Lode — is My Mother Lode biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Deported to Central African Republic, a transgender woman who lived openly in Miami is hiding again (opens Winnipeg Free Press in a new tab)
Winnipeg Free Press — is Winnipeg Free Press biased? Our profile of this outlet
Right
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Not rated
2- USA, Immigration: Not only eSwatini. Trump Deports People Also to Central African Republic (opens notiziegeopolitiche.net in a new tab)
notiziegeopolitiche.net — is notiziegeopolitiche.net biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Deported to Central African Republic, a transgender woman who lived openly in Miami is hiding again (opens MSNBCTV NEWS in a new tab)
MSNBCTV NEWS — is MSNBCTV NEWS biased? Our profile of this outlet
How did this read?
About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.
