People Deported by US to Liberia Face Uncertain Future

Families of people transferred from the United States to Liberia are demanding answers about where their relatives are being held, what legal status they have and whether they are free to leave the country.

The first group of people sent to Liberia under a new US-Liberian arrangement arrived at Roberts International Airport near Monrovia on Thursday. The group is part of an agreement that could see Liberia receive as many as 1,200 people deported from the United States over the next year.

But uncertainty has surrounded the arrivals from the moment they stepped off the plane.

Samwar Fallah, a Monrovia-based lawyer assisting some of the families, said he had received calls from relatives in the US seeking information about 20 people who had been transferred to Liberia, despite none of them being Liberian citizens.

Fallah said he knew the group had been taken from the airport by Liberian officials but had been unable to establish where they were taken, whether they were permitted to leave or what legal status they had been granted.

He said he preferred not to describe them as deportees because Liberia had yet to establish their status under domestic law.

"You cannot relocate a citizen from one country to another without clear information as to why that person has been relocated," Fallah said.

The arrangement involves so-called third-country deportation, under which people are sent to a country other than the one of which they are citizens. The practice has prompted concerns over sovereignty, executive power and the rights of people transferred against their wishes.

Government calls them 'guests'

Liberian officials have described the arrangement as humanitarian and said those transferred to the country are not being detained.

Information Minister Jerolinmek Piah said the arrivals would be treated as "guests of the Republic" and would be free to leave. He also said they could apply for asylum.

Piah pointed to Liberia's historical ties with the United States, including the country's origins as a settlement for free and formerly enslaved Black people from the US. He also cited Liberia's history of welcoming people seeking protection during its own 14-year civil war.

The government has said the United States and an international partner organisation will cover accommodation, food and eventual onward travel.

However, authorities have released few details about the group.

They have not disclosed the full nationalities of those who arrived, where they are being housed, what documents allowed them to enter Liberia or which international organisation is financing and managing their stay.

Reuters reported that five people allegedly refused to leave the aircraft and were subsequently taken to Equatorial Guinea. That report has not been independently verified by Al Jazeera.

Justice Minister Natu Oswald Tweh said Liberia had reviewed the passenger lists and retained the right to reject individuals. He said most of those being transferred had immigration violations or criminal offences.

However, the government has not publicly explained the screening process or said whether any of the arrivals were subject to US court orders or other protections preventing their removal to their countries of citizenship.

The people transferred are understood to include nationals of several Latin American countries, including Venezuela and Cuba.

Legal experts and civil society groups say describing the arrivals as "guests" does not establish their status under Liberian law. It remains unclear whether they have temporary permits, whether they are allowed to work or whether they must seek asylum or another form of residency.

Although the government says they are free to leave, journalists were prevented from speaking with the group at the airport. The arrivals were escorted onto buses and driven away under official supervision.

Questions over parliamentary approval

The arrangement has also triggered political opposition, with some Liberian lawmakers questioning whether the government had the constitutional authority to reach the agreement without legislative approval.

Nimba County Senator Samuel Kogar cited Article 57 of Liberia's constitution, which gives the president authority over foreign affairs and allows treaties and similar agreements to be concluded with the approval of a majority in both houses of the legislature.

Kogar questioned whether the deportation arrangement had received the required parliamentary approval.

The government has said the agreement is based on diplomatic notes exchanged between Liberia and the United States in September last year.

According to Third Country Deportation Watch, a project operated by Refugees International and Human Rights First, the text of the arrangement appeared on the US State Department's website in March. Many Liberians, however, only became aware of it in August.

Representative Anthony F Williams, who serves on House committees dealing with national security, human rights and foreign affairs, said an agreement involving national sovereignty and security should not have been concluded solely by the executive.

Liberia's legislature is currently in recess until October. Williams said he planned to seek information about the accommodation, healthcare, screening procedures and the government's authority to detain or remove people transferred under the agreement.

He also raised concerns about Liberia's ability to manage as many as 1,200 arrivals.

The country, he said, lacks sufficient biometric infrastructure and trained personnel to monitor large numbers of people moving across its territory, while individuals fleeing persecution could potentially be identified and traced by authorities in their countries of origin.

Eddie Jarwolo, executive director of NAYMOTE Partners for Democratic Development, said the government had not published a clear plan showing how the new arrivals would be accommodated without putting additional pressure on public services.

He said civil society organisations had not been consulted and called for independent monitoring of the group's living conditions, government spending and compliance with Liberian law.

Concerns over a possible diplomatic bargain

The government has denied receiving financial payments or diplomatic benefits in exchange for accepting people deported from the US. Critics, however, are demanding greater transparency over the negotiations.

The agreement comes against the backdrop of several recent developments in US-Liberia relations.

In December 2025, Washington and Monrovia signed a five-year, $124m health memorandum. The US also extended B1/B2 visitor visas issued to Liberian citizens from 12 months to three years.

The developments followed Liberia's earlier agreement to accept Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose deportation from the US to a prison in El Salvador became the subject of a major legal and political dispute.

The US subsequently sought permission from a court to deport him to Liberia.

At the same time, Third Country Deportation Watch reported that migrant visas for Liberians were suspended in January and that the US provided Liberia with $5m this year for migration management.

Neither government has publicly said that those measures were directly connected to Liberia's decision to accept third-country deportees.

Jarwolo said the two governments should disclose whether visa policy or other forms of US assistance were discussed as part of the deportation arrangement.

He warned that any such connection could raise questions about Liberia's sovereignty, negotiating position and national security.

William Sando, president of the University of Liberia Student Union, said he first learned about the agreement through Facebook, before the government officially confirmed it.

He said Liberians had not been adequately informed and called for details about where the arrivals would live and whether they would be permitted to work.

For critics of the arrangement, the issue is not simply about immigration.

Senator Kogar said the central questions concerned Liberia's sovereignty, its laws, national security and the government's responsibility to its own citizens.

"This is not a small issue," he said. "We are talking about our sovereignty, our laws, our national security, and the responsibility we have to the Liberian people."