US sends first 20 deportees to Liberia under controversial third-country agreement

The United States on Thursday carried out its first deportation to Liberia under an agreement allowing Washington to send people to the West African country even if they are not Liberian nationals, with 20 deportees arriving near the capital Monrovia.

The arrangement allows Liberia to accept up to 1,200 people, making it one of the Trump administration’s largest efforts to deport migrants to countries other than their own.

Liberian Information Minister Jerolinmek Piah said those sent to Liberia could include nationals from other African countries as well as people from North America, South America and the Caribbean.

Liberian Justice Minister Natu Oswald Tweh has previously said the deportees would have the option of seeking asylum in Liberia if they wished.

The US State Department declined to comment specifically on the latest deportations but said implementing the Trump administration’s immigration policies remained a “top priority”.

The department said Washington was committed to ending “illegal and mass immigration” and strengthening US border security.

The US Department of Homeland Security also declined to confirm Thursday’s deportations, citing operational security, and directed questions to the State Department.

US expands third-country deportations

The Liberia arrangement is part of a broader US policy of sending deportees to countries where they are not citizens.

According to Third Country Deportation Watch, a project run by Refugees International and Human Rights First, the Trump administration has reached agreements with at least 35 countries to accept deportees from other nations.

The group estimates that more than 23,000 people have been deported to 26 countries under such arrangements.

The policy has drawn scrutiny from rights groups because migrants can be sent to countries they have never lived in and where they may face safety concerns. In some cases, deportees have subsequently faced pressure to return to the countries they originally fled.

Third-country deportation agreements have often been negotiated with limited public information about the people being transferred and the countries involved.

Liberia deal leaves key details unclear

The US State Department previously confirmed that Liberia had agreed to accept deportees who are not Liberian citizens.

However, a six-page agreement signed in September 2025 and later published by the department does not specify how many people Liberia could receive or identify the countries from which they could be deported.

The arrangement has also featured in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who the Trump administration mistakenly deported to prison in El Salvador.

After being prevented from sending him directly to El Salvador, the administration said it could deport him to a third country, including Liberia.

Abrego Garcia has said he would accept deportation to Costa Rica, which has indicated it would receive him. He is nevertheless challenging potential deportation to Liberia in a federal lawsuit in Maryland.

The arrival of the first 20 deportees marks the implementation of the Liberia agreement. It could provide an indication of how Washington plans to expand its use of third-country deportations under the Trump administration.

With inputs from agencies