HARBEL, Liberia (AP) \u2014 The United States on Thursday carried out its first deportation under an agreement for Liberia to accept up to 1,200 people who are not from the African country, one of the Trump administration\u2019s largest efforts yet to deport people to countries other than their own.<\/p>\n
The 20 deportees arrived at Roberts International Airport outside Monrovia. <\/p>\n
Deportees will include African nationals as well as nationals from North America, South America and the Caribbean, according to Liberian Information Minister Jerolinmek Piah. Liberian Justice Minister Natu Oswald Tweh has said they could seek asylum in the West African country if they wished.<\/p>\n
The U.S. State Department declined to answer questions about the Liberia agreement, but said that implementing the Trump administration\u2019s immigration policies was a \u201ctop priority.\u201d It said it was \u201cunwavering in our commitment to end illegal and mass immigration and bolster America\u2019s border security.\u201d<\/p>\n
The U.S. Homeland Security Department declined to confirm Thursday\u2019s deportations \u201cfor operational security reasons\u201d and referred additional questions to the State Department.<\/p>\n
Third-country agreements are often shrouded in secrecy. Migrants have been deported to countries they have never been to or where they face safety risks<\/a> and are left with little choice other than to return to the home countries<\/a> they were fleeing from.<\/p>\n The Trump administration struck agreements with at least 35 countries to deport people who are from other countries, including Liberia and 13 others in Africa, according to Third Country Deportation Watch, a partnership of Refugees International and Human Rights First that relies on public records requests, news reports and other sources. More than 23,000 people have been deported to 26 countries under the agreements.<\/p>\n The U.S. State Department previously announced that Liberia agreed to accept deportees who are not from Liberia. But a six-page agreement reached in September 2025 and posted on its website<\/a> does not say how many or from which countries.<\/p>\n