Thursday marked the arrival of a first group of 1,200 deportees from the United States in Liberia, following an expanding trend initiated by President Donald Trump’s administration. The flight, part of a larger initiative announced on Tuesday, involves a continued expansion of third-country deportations across the African continent, reflecting a strategy initiated by the Trump administration’s second term. The inaugural flight carried 20 individuals, largely from Latin American nations like Venezuela and Cuba, representing a significant increase in the number of deportees being sent to Liberia. Following landing, the group was transported to a bus and subsequently taken away by Liberian authorities without allowing reporters to speak. The flight follows an agreement between the US and Liberia, formalized on Tuesday, outlining a total of 1,200 deportees to be sent to Liberia over the coming year. Liberia, a country recognized as part of a growing list of countries aligning with the Trump administration, has been selected as a destination for this influx. The US, for example, has awarded Liberia $5 million this year for ‘migration management activities,’ a sum that represents a significant financial commitment. Since taking office for a second term as US president in 2025, Trump has inked deals with at least 35 countries to accept third-country deportees, according to the Human Rights First nonprofit, citing estimates of at least $40 million spent on such deals in the first year of his second term. The US, in a statement released this week, denied any link between the transfer of persons to Liberia and financial motives. Liberia’s Ministry of Information stated that the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations refugee agency would provide support for the deportees. The initial statement indicated that the deportees will be allowed to apply for asylum and will be ‘free to depart the country when they so desire’. Liberia’s Information Minister Jerolinmek Piah affirmed 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 history of welcoming people seeking refuge from political and other crises. The ministry’s statement asserted that 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 questioned whether smaller countries in Africa and elsewhere are being utilized as a ‘dumping ground’ for US deportees, and whether the immigrants forcibly sent abroad will have adequate access to the resources they need. Some have characterized such third-country deportations as excessively punitive, causing distress for migrants and asylum seekers. The Trump administration has framed the third-party deportations as a necessary deterrent. Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo estimated that, this year alone, roughly 2,300 Mexican citizens have been deported from the US to his country, as opposed to being sent directly to Mexico. Arevalo explained, however, that such deportees are swiftly sent back to Mexico. Arevalo stated, ‘They are arriving in planes of Guatemalan returnees, and what we have done is process them as in transit, in coordination with the Mexican immigration authorities.’ The article notes that the transfer of persons to Liberia is not a transaction with a quid pro quo, and the US government is facing scrutiny regarding the implications of this expansion of deportations. The media has reported that the move is part of a broader effort to disincentivize Mexican nationals from returning to the US without legal immigration status. The Trump administration has framed the third-party deportations as a form of deterrence, and the legal ramifications of this policy are beginning to be explored by international observers. The article highlights the ongoing debate surrounding the impact of this strategy on migrants and asylum seekers, particularly in the context of Liberia’s history of accepting refuge.”] ,
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Source: Al Jazeera
