US Deploys 20 Immigrants to Liberia as Part of 1,200 Expected Transfers

Published On 20 Aug 202620 Aug 2026

The first group of 20 deportees, part of an expected total of 1,200, arrived at Roberts International Airport in Monrovia, Liberia, from the United States.

This marks the beginning of an expanding trend of third-country deportations under the administration of US President Donald Trump, whereby foreign nationals are sent to countries that are not their own.

The inaugural flight carried individuals primarily from Latin American countries, including Venezuela and Cuba.

Upon arrival, the group was transported by Liberian authorities without being allowed to speak to reporters.

This flight follows an agreement announced on Tuesday between the US and Liberia, which will bring up to 1,200 deportees to the African country over the coming year.

Since assuming office in 2025, Trump has established agreements with at least 35 countries to accept third-country deportees, according to the nonprofit Human Rights First.

In return, some of these countries have received financial aid and trade deals. Senate Democrats in February estimated that at least $40 million had been spent on such deals in the first year of Trump’s second term.

The US has provided $5 million this year to Liberia for “migration management activities.”

However, Liberia’s Ministry of Information denied claims that the deportations were motivated by financial incentives. “The transfer of persons to Liberia is not a transaction with a quid pro quo,” the ministry stated. “Liberia has not demanded or received any compensation or promise of reward in exchange for its consent to participate in the program.”

Liberia’s Information Minister Jerolinmek Piah also confirmed that the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations refugee agency would assist in providing services for the deportees.

Deported individuals will be allowed to apply for asylum and are “free to depart the country when they so desire,” according to Tuesday’s statement.

Liberia has emphasized that the deportees are not “criminals and are not being prosecuted in any manner.”

“Liberia, the first black African independent nation on the African continent, has a long history of accepting people seeking refuge from political and other crises,” the ministry’s statement noted. “As a matter of fact, Liberia itself was founded as a refuge for freed slaves from the United States of America and other parts of the world.”

However, critics have raised concerns about whether smaller countries in Africa and elsewhere are being used as a “dumping ground” for US deportees, and whether the migrants forcibly sent abroad will have adequate access to necessary resources.

Some have characterized such third-country deportations as excessively punitive, leaving migrants and asylum seekers in places where they may not even speak the language.

The Trump administration has framed these transfers as necessary for immigrants whose home countries will not accept them, positioning the removals as a form of deterrence.

Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo reported that this year alone, roughly 2,300 Mexican citizens have been deported from the US to his country, rather than being sent directly to Mexico.

According to CBS News, this practice is part of an effort to discourage Mexican nationals from returning to the US without legal immigration status. Arevalo clarified that these individuals are processed as transit passengers in coordination with Mexican immigration authorities and are quickly returned to Mexico.

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