Liberia has agreed to receive up to 1,200 people deported from the United States over the next year, including individuals who are not Liberian citizens, in what would be the largest third-country deportation arrangement under the Trump administration’s expanding global removal programme.
The first group of about 20 deportees is expected to arrive on Thursday, according to Liberian authorities.
Information Minister Jerolinmek Piah said those transferred to Liberia would be treated as “guests of the Republic” and would not be detained indefinitely.
“The government wants to emphasise that those being brought to Liberia are being received as guests of the Republic,” Piah said, noting that they would “remain free to depart the country when they so desire.”
Under an agreement between Liberia and the United States, people sent to the West African country who fear persecution or require international protection would also be able to apply for asylum and remain in Liberia, according to details of the arrangement.
The agreement, reached in 2025 and made public in March 2026, comes as Washington expands efforts to persuade third countries to accept migrants and asylum seekers who are not their nationals.
According to Refugees International and Human Rights First, two organisations tracking the arrangements, the Trump administration has reached agreements with at least 35 countries to accept third-country deportees.
The United States had sent about 22,000 people to 26 countries other than their countries of origin as of early August, the groups said.
Liberia’s agreement would represent the largest number of deportees accepted under the arrangements so far.
Several African countries have emerged as important destinations or transit points in the US deportation programme. Ghana and Equatorial Guinea have also received third-country deportees, while Eswatini said two of the 30 people it accepted from the United States had since returned to Mauritania and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Liberia arrangement has drawn particular attention because of its scale and the inclusion of people with no citizenship ties to the country.
Washington has previously sought to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national whose immigration case has attracted national attention in the United States, to Liberia.
The Trump administration had earlier sought court approval to transfer Abrego Garcia to the West African country. As part of broader engagement with Liberia, Washington also extended the validity of certain visas for Liberian nationals from 12 months to 36 months and committed $124 million to support the country’s health services.
The deportation agreement is now facing several legal challenges in US courts, adding uncertainty over how quickly Washington can implement the large-scale transfer programme.
The broader push to send deportees to third countries has also raised concerns among migrant rights groups over due process, the safety of deportees and whether receiving countries have adequate systems to provide protection to people seeking asylum.
Liberian officials, however, have said the people transferred under the agreement would be free to leave the country or seek protection there, seeking to reassure critics that those arriving would retain freedom of movement.
With the first group expected this week, Liberia is set to become one of the most significant African partners in Washington’s effort to expand deportations beyond migrants’ countries of origin.
