Immigration judge ruled her life would be at risk in Morocco, where homosexuality is criminalized. Violence from her own family forced Farah, a 21-year-old Moroccan woman, to flee a country where same-sex relationships are criminalized and punishable by up to three years in prison, as reported by the Associated Press. Now, after a failed bid for asylum in the United States and a deportation to a third country, she says she has returned to Morocco and is living in hiding. Farah asked to be identified only by her first name out of fear of retaliation. The Associated Press reviewed a copy of her U.S. protection order, and attorneys familiar with her case confirmed elements of her account. Farah said she was beaten by members of her family and her partner’s family after they discovered the women were in a relationship. She said she was expelled from her home and fled with her partner to another city. According to Farah, relatives tracked them down and threatened to kill her. The couple attempted to obtain visas in Brazil and then traveled to the United States, where they had contacts. From Brazil, Farah said, they crossed six countries over several weeks before reaching the U.S. border, where they requested asylum. Her asylum application was denied. In August, however, a U.S. immigration judge granted her a protection order barring her deportation to Morocco, citing the risk to her life. Her partner was denied both asylum and a protection order and was deported. Farah said that days before a scheduled hearing on her potential release from custody, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers placed her in handcuffs and put her on a flight to Cameroon, a country she had never visited, and where homosexuality is also illegal. She said she was detained upon arrival. Alma David, an immigration lawyer with the U.S.-based Novo Legal Group, said as quoted by AP, “ Deporting people to a third country where they could be sent home was effectively a legal “loophole,” Farah is among dozens of migrants whom advocates say were deported by the Trump administration to third countries despite receiving legal protections from U.S. immigration judges. The exact number of such cases remains unclear.