US Deports 20 Migrants to Liberia Under Deal for Up to 1,200 Transfers
Updated
Updated · CNN · Aug 24
US Deports 20 Migrants to Liberia Under Deal for Up to 1,200 Transfers
3 articles · Updated · CNN · Aug 24
Summary
Twenty deportees from Louisiana arrived in Monrovia as the first transfer under a US-Liberia agreement that could send up to 1,200 migrants to the West African country.
The deal is part of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, with Liberian officials saying the arrivals came from African and western hemisphere countries and may seek asylum or leave Liberia.
That first transfer already hit complications: Reuters reported five migrants refused to disembark in Monrovia and were flown to Equatorial Guinea, where more than 30 other US-deported migrants are being held.
Liberians are split over the arrangement, with former lawmaker Conmany Wesseh calling it US outsourcing of immigration enforcement while others frame it through Liberia's history of receiving Black American settlers.
The debate is sharpened by Liberia's limited capacity after years of postwar rebuilding, with youth unemployment at 40% and officials seen as hoping the agreement brings support from Washington.