Liberia is preparing to receive deportees from the United States under a new agreement with the Trump administration, with most of those expected to arrive coming from Latin American countries including Venezuela, Cuba and Colombia, a senior Liberian official said.
Information Minister Jerolinmek Piah said the first deportation flight was expected to arrive in Liberia on Thursday carrying 20 people, though authorities have not disclosed their nationalities.
Liberia announced earlier this week that it had agreed to accept as many as 1,200 third-country deportees from the United States over the next 12 months.
The arrangement is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to expand deportations by sending some migrants to countries other than their own when direct repatriation is difficult or legally restricted.
“Most of the people are from Latin American countries,” Piah said, identifying Venezuela, Cuba and Colombia among the countries involved.
The Liberian government had initially said only that the deportees would come from African and Western Hemisphere countries.
Under the agreement, Liberia says the deportees will be treated as “guests,” will be free to leave the country and may apply for asylum if they choose to remain.
The International Organization for Migration and the United Nations refugee agency are expected to assist with services for those arriving.
Many migrants transferred under similar US third-country deportation arrangements have previously received legal protection against being returned to their home countries after American immigration judges determined they could face torture, persecution or other serious abuses.
The Trump administration has defended the deportation agreements as lawful and says they provide another mechanism for removing people who cannot easily be returned directly to their countries of origin.
Rights groups and immigration advocates, however, have criticised the agreements for lacking transparency and have raised concerns that some deportees could ultimately be returned to countries where they face danger.
Liberia says it is not seeking direct payment in exchange for accepting the deportees, although officials said the country would receive assistance to administer the programme and strengthen its wider migration system.
The United States has already provided Liberia with $5 million this year for migration-management activities.
The agreement makes Liberia one of several African countries working with Washington on third-country deportation arrangements as the Trump administration intensifies its immigration enforcement campaign.