Liberia has agreed to accept up to 1,200 third-country deportees from the US in the next 12 months, with an initial group of 20 expected to arrive on Thursday, the government said in a statement.
CBC News reports that the Liberian government’s statement on Tuesday said the deportees “will include citizens or nationals of African and Western Hemisphere countries who are medically authorized to travel.”
No information was immediately available on the nationalities of the deportees. The US State Department said it does not disclose such details.
The US has in the past adhered to the principle of non-refoulement in both domestic immigration law and international practice. It’s an obligation not to return migrants to countries of origin or third-party countries where their human rights, or even their lives or freedom, could be threatened for reasons of race, religion or nationality.
However, since taking office in January 2025, US President Donald Trump’s administration has struck several deals with many African countries, as well as some elsewhere in the world, to deport people it cannot legally send to their home countries. Washington has defended the third-country deals as lawful, and judges have been loath to interfere in an executive priority. However, some have criticized the lack of notice given to deportees.
Immigration lawyers have said the Trump administration uses third-country deportation as a legal loophole because, in many cases, migrants are deported to places they’ve never been and are left with little choice other than to find a way to the home countries from which they were fleeing.
Liberia said on Tuesday that the deportees would be received “as guests” who could leave when they wanted and who could apply for asylum in Liberia. The government’s statement said Monrovia was not demanding compensation for taking the detainees from Washington.
But in a February report, several Senate Democrats characterized this type of agreement as exploitative. They alleged deals with five countries alone – Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, El Salvador, Eswatini and Palau – had cost American taxpayers $32 million US.
