First Group of US Deportees Arrives in Liberia

The first group of people deported from the United States to Liberia has arrived in the West African country, marking the beginning of an arrangement expected to see as many as 1,200 foreign nationals transferred there over the coming year.

A flight carrying 20 deportees landed at Roberts International Airport in Monrovia on Thursday. Most of those on board were from Latin American countries, including Venezuela and Cuba.

After arriving, the group was taken from the airport by Liberian authorities and was not permitted to speak with reporters.

The transfer is part of an expanding US policy under President Donald Trump that involves sending migrants to countries other than their countries of origin when direct deportation is not possible.

The agreement with Liberia was announced on Tuesday. Under the arrangement, up to 1,200 deportees could be transferred to Liberia during the next 12 months.

Liberia is among a growing number of countries that have reached agreements with the Trump administration to accept people deported from the United States who are not citizens of those countries.

Human Rights First, a nonprofit organisation, estimates that the Trump administration has reached agreements with at least 35 countries since the president began his second term in 2025.

Some countries participating in such arrangements have received financial assistance or trade-related benefits. Senate Democrats estimated in February that at least $40 million had been spent on agreements of this kind during the first year of Trump's second term.

Liberia received $5 million from the United States this year for what Washington described as "migration management activities".

However, Liberia's Ministry of Information has rejected claims that the deportation arrangement was motivated by financial incentives.

"The transfer of persons to Liberia is not a transaction with a quid pro quo," the ministry said in a statement, adding that Liberia had neither requested nor received compensation or promises of rewards for participating in the programme.

Liberian Information Minister Jerolinmek Piah told Reuters that the International Organization for Migration and the UN refugee agency would assist in providing services to those transferred to the country.

According to Liberia's government, deportees will be able to seek asylum and will be free to leave Liberia if they choose.

Officials have also stressed that those arriving under the programme are not being sent to Liberia because they have been convicted of crimes or are facing prosecution there.

Liberia's government pointed to the country's history as a place of refuge, noting that the nation was established in part as a settlement for formerly enslaved people from the United States and elsewhere.

The arrangement has nevertheless drawn criticism from advocates who fear that smaller countries are being used as destinations for people the United States wants removed from its territory.

Critics have raised concerns about whether deportees will have adequate access to housing, legal assistance and other essential services, particularly when they are sent to countries with which they have no previous connection.

Some human rights advocates have described third-country deportations as punitive measures that can leave migrants and asylum seekers stranded in unfamiliar environments and, in some cases, unable to communicate easily in the local language.

The Trump administration has defended the policy as a necessary option for people whose countries of origin refuse or are unable to receive them. US officials have also presented third-country deportations as a deterrent against irregular migration.

The Liberia agreement comes as similar arrangements are being used elsewhere.

Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo said on Thursday that about 2,300 Mexican nationals had been deported from the United States to Guatemala this year rather than being returned directly to Mexico.

However, Arevalo said those Mexicans were only being processed temporarily in Guatemala before being returned to Mexico.

"They are arriving in planes of Guatemalan returnees," he said, explaining that Guatemala was processing the Mexican nationals as people in transit in coordination with Mexican immigration authorities.

The growing use of third-country deportations is likely to remain controversial as the Trump administration expands its efforts to increase the number of people removed from the United States.