The United States has begun sending deportees to Liberia under a new agreement with the Trump administration. Twenty deportees arrived on Thursday at Roberts international airport outside Monrovia, marking the start of a deal in which Liberia will receive up to 1,200 foreign nationals over the next year.
Liberia is now part of a growing list of partners accepting third-country deportations as part of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. This specific deal is expected to be among the largest third-country deportations driven by the crackdown. Advocates say the administration has used a series of often-secret agreements to deport thousands of people to nearly two dozen countries that are not their own, about 10 of which are in Africa.
The Liberian government announced the agreement on August 18, stating that the deportees are free to apply for asylum or depart the country when they so desire. However, critics in the West African nation say their government has not explained why it agreed to one of the largest U.S. deportation deals, who the deportees are, or how they will be handled.