Liberia has agreed to receive as many as 1,200 people deported from the United States over the next 12 months, expanding President Donald Trump’s use of African countries as destinations for migrants who are not being returned directly to their home countries.

Liberia has agreed to receive as many as 1,200 third-country deportees from the United States.The first group of 20 is expected to arrive on 20 August.The government says they will be treated as guests who can seek asylum or leave Liberia.Washington will support the programme, but the value and terms of that assistance remain undisclosed.

The first group of 20 deportees is expected to arrive in Liberia on Thursday, 20 August, according to the Liberian government.

The migrants will include citizens of African countries and nations in the Western Hemisphere who have been medically cleared to travel. Their nationalities have not been disclosed.

Information Minister Jerolinmek Piah said the deportees were being removed mainly for immigration violations. Liberian authorities said each person had undergone security screening before being approved for transfer.

The agreement makes Liberia one of the largest announced participants in the Trump administration’s third-country deportation programme in Africa.

Deportees to be treated as ‘guests’

Liberia said the deportees would enter the country as “guests” rather than prisoners.

They will be permitted to apply for asylum in Liberia or leave for another country if they can do so legally. The government has not explained what immigration status will apply to those who neither seek asylum nor have another country willing to receive them.

DON’T MISS THIS: Ghana joins Trump’s deportee host country list as 14 migrants arrive in Accra

It also remains unclear where the deportees will live, how long they may remain in Liberia and which government agency will cover their accommodation, food, healthcare and legal-processing expenses.

Liberia said it was not demanding compensation in exchange for accepting the deportees and described the arrangement as humanitarian rather than a direct trade-off with Washington.

The government acknowledged, however, that it would receive US support to administer the programme and strengthen its migration system. It did not disclose the value, form or conditions of that assistance.

The lack of financial details is significant because agreements of this nature can require funding for housing, asylum processing, security checks, healthcare and voluntary onward travel.

The first group of 20 deportees from the United States is expected to arrive in Liberia on 20 August.[Gemini Generated Image]

Proposed intake could double Liberia’s refugee caseload

The maximum number covered by the agreement is substantial when compared with Liberia’s existing refugee population.

DON’T MISS THIS: After three failed negotiations, U.S. finally secures African destination for deported migrant

Liberia currently hosts about 1,167 recognised refugees and 687 asylum seekers, according to the United Nations refugee agency⁠.

If all 1,200 deportees arrive, the new intake alone would be slightly larger than the country’s entire recognised refugee population.

Not everyone transferred from the United States will necessarily apply for refugee status. Nevertheless, the figure illustrates the potential administrative burden on Liberia’s asylum and migration institutions.

The country’s Asylum Committee registered about 100 new claims and granted refugee status to 55 people at the first stage in 2025. Processing hundreds of additional applications would therefore represent a considerable expansion of its workload.

Liberia is a party to international agreements including the 1951 Refugee Convention, its 1967 Protocol and the Convention Against Torture.

These commitments require it to observe the principle of non-refoulement, which prevents authorities from returning people to countries where they face persecution, torture or other serious harm.

Liberia moves from denial to large-scale agreement

In June 2025, Liberia publicly rejected reports that it had agreed to accept third-country deportees from the United States.

At the time, its foreign ministry said there were no negotiations or formal or informal agreements requiring the country to receive non-Liberian nationals.

DON’T MISS THIS: High-profile Immigrant who fought Trump’s deportation now at risk of being sent to Uganda

That position began to change later in 2025 as Washington increased pressure on governments to participate in its deportation programme.

Liberia subsequently agreed to receive Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national whose immigration case became a major legal and political dispute in the United States.

Monrovia said it would accept him temporarily on humanitarian grounds and promised security screening, due process and protection against his removal to a country where he could face serious harm.

The new arrangement covering up to 1,200 people transforms what Liberia previously presented as an exceptional humanitarian decision into a much larger migration programme.

Trump turns to more African governments

The Trump administration has increasingly sought agreements with countries willing to receive people who are not their citizens.

The approach is particularly relevant in cases where a person’s country of origin refuses to accept them or where a US court has ruled that returning them could expose them to torture, persecution or other abuses.

African countries that have participated in or announced third-country arrangements include Rwanda, Uganda, Ghana, Eswatini and South Sudan. US authorities have also secured cooperation from other governments on the continent, although the scale and conditions vary.

Rwanda agreed in 2025 to consider as many as 250 deportees. Uganda described its arrangement as temporary and initially said it would not accept unaccompanied minors or people with criminal records.

Liberia’s ceiling of 1,200 people is considerably larger than Rwanda’s publicly announced intake.

Rights organisations and immigration lawyers have criticised the US programme, arguing that many agreements lack transparency and can weaken protections already granted by immigration judges.

Washington maintains that third-country removals are lawful when receiving governments provide assurances that deportees will be treated humanely and protected from being returned to danger.

The effectiveness of those safeguards in Liberia will depend on access to lawyers, an independent asylum process, freedom of movement and public information about what happens to deportees after their arrival.