Twenty migrants deported from the United States arrived in Liberia on Thursday, the first group of an eventual 1,200 deportees that the West African country says it will receive from the U.S. under a new deal.
Under a series of often-secret agreements, the Trump administration has deported thousands of people to two dozen countries that aren't their own, as it pushes ahead with its immigration crackdown, advocates say.
An estimated 11 of those agreements, nearly half the total, are with African countries and the Liberia-U.S. agreement involves one of the largest numbers of such third-country deportations
Immigration lawyers say the practice is being used as a legal loophole to indirectly return some asylum-seekers to countries they fled.
Authorities in Liberia have said the deportees being welcomed in their country can seek asylum there or leave if they choose.
Why some African countries accept deportees
Other African countries that have received or agreed to receive third-country deportees from the U.S. include South Sudan, Eswatini, Rwanda, Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Congo, Uganda, Sierra Leone and the Central African Republic.
Some, like Ghana and Sierra Leone, are accepting deportees from their regions — in this case West Africa.
Many of the African countries approving the deals are among the worst hit by the Trump administration's policies, including on trade, aid and migration.
A good number of them also have authoritarian governments, raising questions about the lack of accountability and due process to ensure the protection of the deportees' rights.
The Trump administration had spent at least $40 million to deport about 300 migrants to countries other than their own
Details of most of the deals are never made public and some of the African nations, like Ghana's government, have defended their actions as having been taken on humanitarian grounds.
The Trump administration had spent at least $40 million to deport about 300 migrants to countries other than their own, according to a February report by the Democratic staff of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. More countries have entered the deal since then.
Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi has described his country’s agreement as an “act of goodwill between partners,” without financial compensation.
The deal came as Washington increased pressure on neighboring Rwanda over its support for M23 rebels, a dynamic analysts say may help explain Congo’s willingness to cooperate.
