The first 20 migrants deported by the United States landed this Thursday at Roberts International Airport on the outskirts of Monrovia, marking the beginning of an agreement under which Liberia agreed to accept up to 1,200 foreigners within a 12-month period, as reported by the Associated Press.
The plane landed just before 1:00 PM local time, and the deportees were transported by bus from the airport.
The personnel from the Liberian Commission for Repatriation, Resettlement, and Reintegration were responsible for attending to them; the journalists from AFP present at the scene were kept at a distance and were unable to speak with any of the arrivals.
The agreement was announced on Tuesday by the Liberian government and is among the largest deportation operations to third countries driven by the administration of Donald Trump.
The Minister of Information of Liberia, Jerolinmek Piah, clarified that the group of 1,200 will not be limited to African citizens: "Among the 1,200 deported, there will be African citizens, as well as those from North America, South America, and the Caribbean."
The Liberian Minister of Justice, Natu Oswald Tweh, explained in a press conference that the government reviewed the list of migrants prior to their arrival and that most had committed immigration-related offenses or violations. Tweh added that those deported could apply for asylum in Liberia or leave whenever they wish.
The Liberian government also clarified that "it has not demanded or received any compensation or promise of rewards in exchange for its consent to participate in the program," although it will receive support to manage the scheme and strengthen its immigration system.
Under a series of often secret agreements, the Trump administration has deported thousands of people to nearly two dozen countries other than their country of origin, with about ten of them in Africa.
A specialized tracker estimated that, at the beginning of August, around 22,000 people had been sent to at least 26 countries under this scheme.
Liberia thus joins an African network that already includes Eswatini, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Ghana, Uganda, Equatorial Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Cameroon, among others. Deported Cubans were among the first to arrive in Eswatini under similar agreements since 2025.
Immigration lawyers warn that Washington is using these deportations as a legal loophole to indirectly pressure asylum seekers to return to their countries of origin, since the U.S. argues that it is only legally prohibited from sending them directly back to the countries they fled.
In many cases, migrants are moved to countries where they have never been or where they face risks to their safety.
In February, a federal judge in Massachusetts declared the policy of deporting to third countries illegal without prior notice or the possibility to contest the transfer, although the enforcement of the ruling was temporarily suspended.
The agreement with Liberia is also connected to the case of the Salvadoran migrant Kilmar Ábrego García, who has become a symbol of mass deportations after being mistakenly sent back to El Salvador.
According to The New York Times, the Trump administration has sought to deport him to Liberia, and a federal judge urged the Department of Justice regarding that plan, which was still in litigation as of August.
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