Liberia receives first 20 US deportees

Liberia received its first group of 20 people deported from the United States on August 20, after agreeing to accept up to 1,200 foreign nationals within a year.

AFP journalists saw the plane land at Liberia's international airport near Monrovia shortly before 1:00 p.m. local time. The arrivals boarded a bus that left the airport, and staff from the Liberian Commission on Repatriation, Resettlement and Reintegration were seen assisting them. Reporters were kept at a distance and could not speak with the deportees.

Liberia announced on August 18 that it would accept up to 1,200 foreign nationals deported from the United States. The government said they would be free to leave Liberia when they wished or apply for asylum. It also said it had not demanded or received compensation or promised rewards for joining the programme.

Liberia is among African countries accepting deportees under President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown. In his second term, Trump has expanded who is eligible for deportation, including some people with legal protections that previously allowed them to live and work in the United States because they feared persecution in their home countries. Washington argues that US law only bars sending such people directly to their home countries.