Ghana has agreed to receive West African nationals deported from the United States and help route them on to their home countries, President John Dramani Mahama told reporters late Wednesday. He said 14 people have already arrived in Ghana under the arrangement.
Mahama did not set a ceiling on the numbers Ghana might accept. He said the decision covered West African citizens because they do not require visas to enter Ghana under regional free-movement rules.
“We were approached by the U.S. to accept third-country West African nationals who were being removed from the U.S., and we agreed,” Mahama said. “All our fellow West Africans don’t need a visa to come to our country.”
A first group of 14 deportees, including Nigerians and one Gambian, landed in Ghana recently, and the government facilitated their travel onward to their respective countries, he added.
The move comes as the Trump administration pursues a tougher immigration stance, seeking to expand removals and, in some cases, fly migrants to “third countries.” Rights groups say some deportees fear for their safety after transfer.
In July, the U.S. sent five people to Eswatini and eight to South Sudan. Rwanda received seven U.S.-deported migrants in August after Kigali agreed to take up to 250 people. On July 9, Trump hosted five West African presidents at the White House, and sources told Reuters one goal was to urge them to accept deportees from other countries. Mahama did not attend that meeting.