Trump’s Rwanda scheme? First 20 US deportees have arrived in Liberia

The first 20 deportees from the US have arrived in Liberia. The Trump administration plans to send 1,200 people in total. The plans echo the UK’s failed Rwanda deportation scheme. Associated Press reported on 20 August:

The deportees arrived at the Roberts International Airport outside Monrovia. The Liberia-U.S. agreement is among the largest third-country deportations driven by the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration.

It comes a day after the UK’s Conservative Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake tried to re-hash the Rwanda scheme. The scheme, which was widely seen as abhorrent, was scrapped by the incoming Labour government in 2024.

AP reported:

The 1,200 deportees will include African nationals and also nationals from North America, South America and the Caribbean, according to Liberian Information Minister Jerolinmek Piah.

Liberian Justice Minister Natu Oswald Tweh said in a briefing on 18 August:

that the majority of the deportees had committed migration-related violations and offenses, and that they could seek asylum in the West African country if they wished.

Liberian president Joseph Boakai has prioritised good relations with the Trump administration recently.

Trump administration — Secret deals to take deportees

The US deportations are part of the Trump administration’s violent — and sometimes deadly — crackdown on migration.

AP said Trump had cut shadowy deals with a number of countries to take deportees:

Under a series of often-secret agreements, the Trump administration has deported thousands of people to nearly two dozen countries that aren’t their own, advocates say, with about 10 of them in Africa.

One significant example is the deal the US President cut with El Salvador’s fascist president Nayib Bukele to deport immigrants to the country’s horrifying CECOT mega-prison.

According to AP:

Immigration lawyers have said the Trump administration uses deportations to third countries as a legal loophole to indirectly force asylum-seekers back to their home countries.

In many cases:

migrants are deported to countries they’ve never been to or where they face safety risks and are left with little choice other than to return to the home countries they were fleeing from.

Deportations aren’t just a Trumpian issue, however. A 2024 CNN report found Trump’s Democrat predecessor Joe Biden hit the highest level of deportations since 2014:

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported 271,484 immigrants last fiscal year, marking the highest level of deportations since 2014, according to a newly released annual report.

That didn’t stop Trump claiming the Democrats were weak on immigration. In fact, he made aggressive deportations a cornerstone of his manifesto. ICE has enjoyed massive funding increases since Trump returned to power. The paramilitary force has clashed with locals – even killing some — in cities across the US.

Featured image via the Canary

By Joe Glenton

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