The New Yorker is facing intense backlash for publishing what critics describe as a sympathetic, one-sided profile of Orville Etoria, a 62-year-old Jamaican national, illegal immigrant, and convicted murderer who was deported by the Trump administration earlier this year under its third-country deportation program.
Etoria was one of five illegal migrants sent to Africa in September as part of the initiative. His case drew renewed scrutiny this week after the magazine released a lengthy feature about his deportation, months after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) condemned similar coverage in The New York Times as “disgraceful and disgusting.”
Critics Accuse Magazine of Omitting Key Facts
A teaser for the New Yorker’s story posted on X generated immediate backlash for quoting Etoria’s emotional comparison of his deportation to the experiences of enslaved people — without highlighting his criminal history. “Being taken ‘to another land in shackles and chains’ helped him ‘imagine how the slaves might have felt,’” the teaser read.
Online critics quickly pointed out the omission. “I see you conveniently forgot to mention here that he was not a US citizen and had spent 25 years in prison for murder,” one user wrote. The post also received a reader’s note adding context: “Orville Etoria has multiple serious felonies, including armed robbery and murder. He held a US lawful permanent resident status, which can [be] and was revoked following his criminal convictions.”
The New Yorker feature also quoted a relative saying, “Orville isn’t a monster,” prompting further criticism. “Murder. He literally murdered someone,” one X user responded. Another wrote, “He was here 50 years, 25 of them in prison for murder. Nice guy! He has been such a bonus to our society.”
Violent Criminal Record
Etoria came to the United States from Jamaica as a child and was convicted in 1996 of second-degree murder for fatally shooting a man inside a leather goods store. He served 25 years in prison and was released in 2021. DHS said he also had prior arrests for criminal possession of a weapon, armed robbery, and forcible theft with a deadly weapon.
The Trump administration ordered his deportation earlier this year, and he was transferred to a third country as part of an expanded effort to remove criminal illegal migrants from U.S. communities.
DHS Previously Condemned Efforts to Humanize Etoria
The New Yorker story follows an earlier profile in The New York Times, which DHS sharply rebuked at the time. A DHS spokesperson said then: “If you come to our country illegally and break our laws, you could end up in CECOT, Eswatini, South Sudan, or another third country. President Trump and Secretary Noem are using every tool available to get criminal illegal aliens out of American communities and out of our country. Our message is clear: Criminals are not welcome in the United States.”
The spokesperson also questioned why major media outlets focus on narratives about deported criminals rather than their victims, saying, “Every single day President Trump and Secretary Noem fight for justice for American victims of illegal alien crime and nearly every single day the media ignores these victims and their families.”
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