The first group of people deported from the United States has arrived in Liberia, as part of an agreement that could see up to 1,200 deportees sent to the West African country over the next year.
The first flight landed at Roberts International Airport in Monrovia on Thursday, carrying 20 people, most of them from Latin American countries including Venezuela and Cuba.
After arriving, the deportees were taken away by Liberian authorities on a bus without being allowed to speak to journalists.
The transfer is part of a growing policy under US President Donald Trump, in which migrants are deported to countries other than their countries of origin.
The United States and Liberia announced the deportation agreement on Tuesday. Liberia is among dozens of countries that have reached similar arrangements with the Trump administration.
According to Human Rights First, the Trump administration has reached agreements with at least 35 countries to accept third-country deportees since Trump returned to office for a second term in 2025.
Some countries involved in such agreements have received financial assistance or trade benefits from the United States. Liberia, for example, received $5 million this year for what the US described as “migration management activities.”
However, Liberia’s Ministry of Information denied that the country accepted the deportees in exchange for financial compensation.
“The transfer of persons to Liberia is not a transaction with a quid pro quo,” the ministry said, insisting that Liberia had neither demanded nor received payment or promises of rewards for participating in the programme.
Liberian Information Minister Jerolinmek Piah said the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN refugee agency would assist in providing services to the deportees.
The Liberian government said those transferred would be allowed to apply for asylum and would be free to leave the country if they wished.
It also stressed that the deportees were not criminals and were not facing prosecution in Liberia.
The arrangement has nevertheless drawn criticism from human rights groups, which fear that smaller countries in Africa and elsewhere could become dumping grounds for people deported by the United States.
Critics also warn that deportees could struggle to access adequate support and services, particularly if they do not speak the local language.
The Trump administration, meanwhile, argues that third-country deportations are necessary when migrants’ home countries refuse to accept them. It has also described the policy as a deterrent against irregular immigration to the United States.
Separately, Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo said about 2,300 Mexican citizens had been deported from the United States to Guatemala this year instead of being sent directly to Mexico. He said they were treated as people in transit and subsequently returned to Mexico.
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