Liberia has agreed to receive a maximum of 1,200 deportees from the United States who are citizens of African and Western Hemisphere countries and are medically cleared to travel over the next year. The initial group of 20 deportees is expected to land on Thursday, according to a statement from the Liberian government. The specific nationalities of the deportees have not been disclosed, as per the U.S. State Department’s policy of not revealing such information.
While historically committed to non-refoulement principles, the U.S. government under President Donald Trump’s administration has entered into agreements with various African nations and others to deport individuals who cannot be repatriated to their home countries. These agreements have faced criticism for lack of transparency and limited notice to deportees.
Immigration attorneys have criticized the use of third-country deportations as exploiting legal loopholes, often leading deported migrants to unfamiliar destinations. Liberia, following discussions with President Trump, has agreed to host the deportees as guests who are free to leave or apply for asylum within Liberia without any compensation from the U.S.
Senate Democrats have raised concerns about the financial implications of such agreements, citing costs to American taxpayers for deals involving Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, El Salvador, Eswatini, and Palau. Several African countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Ghana, and Sierra Leone, have also accepted third-country deportees from the U.S.
In a broader strategy to reduce the foreign-born population in the U.S., the Trump administration has intensified efforts to prompt unauthorized individuals to self-deport. Recent judicial decisions have allowed the administration to end legal protections for thousands of immigrants from countries like Ethiopia, South Sudan, Myanmar, and Somalia, arguing that these protections were not intended to be permanent statuses.
Critics of ending protections, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, have voiced concerns about the economic impact and ethical treatment of migrants in the country. The Chamber of Commerce warns of potential negative effects on sectors like construction and healthcare due to demographic challenges posed by an aging population and declining birth rates.