None of the deported men and women placed in a three-story hotel in a remote, coastal area of this West African country are Liberian citizens. Many are not even from Africa.
Instead, they hail from countries throughout Latin America — including Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, and Venezuela — as well as other African countries like Cameroon and Eritrea. They were deported to Liberia last month by US immigration officials as part of an intensifying tactic in President Trump’s aggressive crackdown on illegal immigration: sending some deportees to far-flung places where they have no ties.
CBS News tracked down the deportees in Liberia, becoming the first US television network to speak to them in person. They described being in limbo and feeling stateless, unable to return to the US, where many have spouses and children, and scared of being persecuted if they go back to their homelands.
‘I Feel Far Away, on the Other Side of the World’
“I’m concerned,” Honduran native Elvis Rodriguez Venturas told CBS News. “I feel far away, on the other side of the world.”
Rodriguez Venturas said his four children, two of whom are US citizens, ask him every day when he is coming back to Texas, where he worked in construction. His wife is also in the US. He entered the US illegally, but his deportation to Honduras was barred by an immigration judge who found he could be harmed there. He said he had been using that protection to work in the US legally before his detention.
Most of the deportees who agreed to be interviewed won legal protections in American immigration courts, preventing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement from deporting them to their home countries because of concerns they could be persecuted or tortured there. But under the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance posture, those with such cases are being targeted for deportation to third countries.
The deportees said they were not notified by ICE that they would be removed to Liberia, or given the chance to challenge their deportation to West Africa.
“Honestly, I had never heard of Liberia,” Colombian immigrant Arin Garcia Yepes told CBS News. “I didn’t even know it existed,” said Rodriguez Venturas.
The Deportation Flight
Brazilian immigrant Paola Ferreira Dos Santos, the only woman among the Latin American deportees in Liberia, said she only learned where she had been deported to when the deportation flight landed in Monrovia on August 20.
“I was the first to get off the plane, and they said, ‘Welcome to Liberia. You’re in Africa,'” the 21-year-old told CBS News in Portuguese.
While Trump administration officials often say their deportation blitz is primarily focused on hardened criminals they call the “worst of the worst,” CBS News obtained the names of those sent to Liberia last month and could not find a criminal charge or conviction for the vast majority, beyond immigration violations like entering the US illegally.
The Third-Country Deportation Deals
In August, Liberia’s government revealed it had agreed to receive up to 1,200 third-country deportees from the US, framing it as a humanitarian gesture. So far, it has only received one group of deportees under the agreement.
The West African country joined more than 30 nations around the globe that have now agreed to such deportations under pressure from the Trump administration. Many of the agreements have been brokered with African countries, including those beset by armed conflict, political crises, and widespread poverty, like the Central African Republic and South Sudan.
While the Liberian government has said the deportees can claim asylum in Liberia, none of the ones interviewed by CBS News expressed interest in staying permanently, citing poverty, the different culture, and their lack of work visas.
Feeling Trapped
Unlike some African countries, Liberia is not detaining the deportees it receives from the US. While they have been told not to venture too far outside the hotel for their own safety, the deportees are technically free to leave. The United Nations’ migration agency has been providing basic necessities.
But many still feel trapped. Some are contemplating returning to their home countries or hoping another third country agrees to welcome them.
Venezuelan deportee Carlos Tellez Sanchez, who was selling cars and delivering food in the Dallas area before he was detained by ICE late last year, said he is stuck for now in Africa. His wife and their American-born baby remain in Texas.
“Returning to Venezuela is not an option for me,” he said. “I feel I could be in danger if I return to my home country.”
The Bottom Line
Latin American migrants deported by ICE to Liberia describe being stranded in a country where they have no ties and do not speak the language. Many had won legal protections in US immigration courts preventing their deportation to their home countries. They say they were not notified of their destination or given a chance to challenge it. Liberia is one of more than 30 countries that have agreed to receive third-country deportees under pressure from the Trump administration. The deportees remain in limbo, unable to return to the US and afraid to go home.
