ICE Deports First 20 Migrants to Liberia Under 1,200-Person Deal
Updated
Updated · EL PAÍS USA · Sep 12
ICE Deports First 20 Migrants to Liberia Under 1,200-Person Deal
3 articles · Updated · EL PAÍS USA · Sep 12
Summary
A charter flight from Louisiana on Aug. 19 sent 20 migrants to Liberia, launching a bilateral deal under which Monrovia agreed to receive nearly 1,200 people over a year.
At least two Venezuelans on the flight said they had withholding-of-removal protection, learned of the transfer only hours before departure, and were moved through multiple detention centers without time to challenge the deportation.
Six of the 20 refused to disembark in Monrovia and were flown on to Equatorial Guinea; those who stayed have spent more than a week in a hotel near the capital and are free to move while weighing asylum or onward options.
Human Rights First and Refugees International say the U.S. signed transfer deals with more than 35 countries between Jan. 2025 and Aug. 2026 and deported more than 23,000 people to 26 nations, including 300-plus to 14 African countries.
The Liberia arrangement is already under legal scrutiny over whether the country is a safe third destination, while critics say Washington used more than $40 million, visa incentives and aid commitments to secure opaque deportation agreements.