First group of US deportees, out of an expected 1,200, arrive in Liberia

For context, a first group of deportees, out of an projected total of 1, 200, has landed at the Roberts International Airport in Monrovia, Liberia, from the United States.

Key points

• The inaugural flight carried 20 individuals, largely from Latin American countries like Venezuela and Cuba.
• But in announcing the transfer accord earlier this week, Liberia's Ministry of Information denied any reports that it agreed to the deportations for financial motives.
• "As a matter of fact, Liberia itself was founded as a refuge for freed slaves from the United States of America and other parts of the world."
• The US, for example, awarded Liberia $5m this year for "migration management activities".
• Those brought to Liberia will be allowed to apply for asylum and are "free to depart the country when they so desire", according to Tuesday's statement.

Thursday's flight is part of an expanding trend of third-country deportations under the administration of US President Donald Trump, whereby foreign nationals are sent to countries that are not their own.

Meanwhile, the inaugural flight carried 20 individuals, largely from Latin American countries like Venezuela and Cuba.

After landing, the group boarded a bus and was taken away by Liberian authorities without being allowed to speak to reporters.

In practice, the flight follows an agreement, confirmed on Tuesday, between the US and Liberia that will bring up to 1, 200 deportees to the African country over the coming year.

Liberia is part of a growing list of countries striking agreements with the Trump administration.

Since taking office for a second term as US president in 2025, Trump has inked deals with at least 35 countries to accept third-country deportees, according to the nonprofit Human Rights First.

In exchange, some of those countries have received financial aid and trade deals. Senate Democrats in February estimated that at least $40m had been spent on such deals in the first year of Trump's second term.

For context, the US, for example, awarded Liberia $5m this year for "migration management activities".

"The transfer of persons to Liberia is not a transaction with a quid pro quo, " the ministry remarked in an official note. "Liberia has not demanded or received any compensation or promise of reward in exchange for its consent to participate in the program."

Liberia's Information Minister Jerolinmek Piah additionally informed the news agency Reuters that the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations refugee agency would support provide services for the deportees.

According to Liberia has, the deportees are not "criminals and are not being prosecuted in any manner".

"Liberia, the first black African independent nation on the African continent, has a long history of accepting people seeking refuge from political and other crises, " the ministry's statement remarked.

But critics have questioned whether smaller countries in Africa and elsewhere are being applied as a "dumping ground" for US deportees, and whether the immigrants forcibly sent abroad will have adequate access to the resources they need.

Some have characterised such third-country deportations as excessively punitive, stranding migrants and asylum seekers in places where they sometimes cannot even speak the language.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration, meanwhile, has framed the third-party deportations as necessary for immigrants whose home countries will not accept them. It has additionally framed the removals as a form of deterrence.

As resisted to being sent directly to Mexico, guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo on Thursday estimated that, this year alone, roughly 2, 300 Mexican citizens have been deported from the US to his country.

Media outlets, including CBS News, have documented that the manouevre is part of an effort to disincentivize Mexican nationals from returning to the US without legal immigration status.

Arevalo explained, nevertheless, that such deportees are swiftly sent back to Mexico. "They are arriving in planes of Guatemalan returnees, and what we have done is process them as in transit, ‌in coordination with the Mexican immigration authorities, " he remarked.

Taken together, the developments around first group of US deportees, out of an expected 1, 200, arrive in point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.