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The Conversation
The Conversation
Karen Masterson, Assistant Professor of Journalism, University of Richmond

US migrant flights to Liberia evoke troubling history of sending people deemed unwanted to the West African nation

Liberian national police officers stand guard awaiting a plane carrying migrants deported from the United States to land in Harbel, Liberia, on Aug. 20, 2026. Matthew Jacobs / AFP via Getty Images

The Supreme Court’s recent decision to temporarily allow the United States to resume deporting migrants to third-country destinations could see the resumption of flights to Liberia.

About the size of Ohio, the West African country is one of 35 countries the Trump administration is paying to shelter and feed Latin Americans and others living in the U.S. without proper legal status. Some of those receiving nations have a reputation for corruption and human rights abuses, and in most cases, those being deported have no links to the host nation.

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