Free Hospitality... Trump Turns Deportations into a Diplomatic Leverage Tool

Liberia has revealed it will receive up to 1,200 deported migrants from the United States within the next 12 months, a move reflecting a notable shift in the scope of the deportation policy pursued by President Donald Trump’s administration, which increasingly relies on transferring migrants to third countries rather than repatriating them to their original nations.

Liberia has already received its first group of migrants deported from the United States, fulfilling its pledge to host them over the coming year. This marks a significant change across the African continent, as African nations that have signed agreements with Washington so far have received only slightly more than 300 individuals.

Over the past one and a half years, the Trump administration has implemented a broad program to deport foreign nationals residing in the United States illegally to third countries, particularly individuals who cannot be returned to their home countries for various reasons, including fear of persecution.

Among the approximately 1,200 people Liberia is preparing to receive are migrants from African and Latin American countries, including Carlos Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran migrant who lived in the United States for 15 years and has become one of the most prominent figures in the debate over Trump’s deportation policy.

Washington had previously deported him unlawfully to El Salvador, where he was imprisoned before being returned to the United States after his defense proved his life would be at risk in his home country. Since then, Abrego Garcia has been a persistent source of trouble for the U.S. administration and currently faces the threat of deportation to Liberia, which last year agreed to accept him “on purely humanitarian grounds.”

Liberia: “Hospitality” Without Compensation

Liberia has thus joined a list of countries that have signed agreements with the United States to receive deported migrants, arrangements that in some cases include visa waivers or inspections.

The West African nation, with a population of about 5.5 million, confirmed it has neither requested nor received “any compensation or promise of reward” for hosting the deportees, emphasizing that its decision stems from “the authentic African spirit of hospitality.”

The Liberian government stated that the deportees will be “received as guests,” with “necessary support and security provided throughout their stay,” adding they will be able to file asylum applications.

Yet despite the “humanitarian” character the Liberian authorities describe for the program, Monrovia recently secured a privilege: inclusion among 20 African countries where Washington will maintain consulates capable of issuing visas, even as the U.S. Department of State plans to cut its embassy network across the continent in half.

This privilege followed a visit by Liberian President Joseph Boakai to the White House last year, amid historically close ties between the two nations.

These ties trace back to the 19th century, when Liberia was an autonomous region, and the American Colonization Society encouraged the “return” of free African Americans and emancipated slaves to Africa.

Liberian authorities have drawn on this historical legacy to justify their decision to host large numbers of deportees, stating the country has long served as a refuge for emancipated slaves from the United States and elsewhere, and refusing to accept citizens from third countries would contradict its highest interests.

Africa Becomes a Deportation Destination

Under pressure from Washington, increasing numbers of African countries are agreeing to receive migrants deemed undesirable by the United States. What began as a limited flow to a small number of nations—part of a U.S. effort to encourage home countries to accept returnees—is gradually evolving into a broader policy.

Alongside Latin America, Africa has become a central focus of this program, with 15 African nations now designated as receiving countries, including Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, and Ghana.

According to data from the Third Country Deportation Observatory, an organization tracking the status of deportees, at least 300 migrants of various nationalities—including Vietnamese, Iranians, Turks, Colombians, and Cubans—were transferred within a single year to countries they had never visited and did not speak the language of.

Incentives and Intimidation

To persuade third countries to accept deportees, the United States has employed a mix of incentives and intimidation, according to a report by AFP, involving agreements worth millions of dollars, payments to security forces, and easing visa restrictions and customs fees.

Thus, the issue of migrant deportation is no longer limited to returning people to their home countries but has transformed into a diplomatic tool used by the Trump administration to reshape networks of understanding with third countries, especially in Africa, which is now bearing an increasingly large share of the burden of U.S. immigration policy.