US has sent deportees to many African countries, the latest one being Liberia. Here’s why

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Twenty migrants deported from the United States arrived in Liberia on Thursday, marking the first group of an eventual 1,200 deportees the West African nation says it will receive under a new deal. This is the latest African country to receive third-country deportees from the U.S., following a series of often-secret agreements with 24 countries not their own. An estimated 11 of these agreements are with African nations, with Liberia hosting one of the largest numbers of such deportations.

Immigration lawyers argue this practice serves as a legal loophole to indirectly return asylum-seekers to the countries they fled. African countries receiving these deportees, including South Sudan, Eswatini, Rwanda, Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Congo, Uganda, Sierra Leone, and the Central African Republic, are among the worst hit by the Trump administration's policies.

Some of these nations possess authoritarian governments, prompting questions about accountability and due process to ensure the protection of deportees' rights.

While details of the deals remain undisclosed, some African nations, like Ghana's government, have defended their actions as humanitarian. The Trump administration reportedly spent at least $40 million to deport around 300 migrants to countries other than their own, a figure that has since increased. Recently, Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi described his country's agreement as an "act of goodwill," without financial compensation.

Early deportations involved individuals convicted of serious crimes. However, later transfers have included asylum-seekers with U.S. court orders protecting them from return due to potential persecution or torture. Many deportees claim they were sent to countries with no prior ties, only learning of their destination hours into the journey.

For example, a gay Moroccan woman was deported to Cameroon, where homosexuality is illegal, and an Iranian woman with U.S. court protection from Iran was sent to the Central African Republic.

Alma David, an immigration lawyer, calls this a potent legal loophole, stating deportees often face "impossible choices" – remain in an unfamiliar country with limited support or return to a country deemed unsafe by a U.S. judge. U.S. policy permits removal without additional procedures when a receiving government provides blanket diplomatic assurances that deportees won't face persecution.

Some deportees have reported being shackled and held in full-body restraints during flights lasting over 16 hours. Their conditions in different countries vary, with some governments, like Sierra Leone, providing housing, food, and healthcare through private contractors. In Congo, the International Organization for Migration offered humanitarian assistance and assisted voluntary return.

However, deportees claim their movements are tightly controlled, housing them behind locked gates, restricting their freedom to leave, and limiting medical care. In Equatorial Guinea, deportees were confined in a hotel owned by the president's family, facing repeated pressure to return home.