Since the assumption of office by President Donald Trump for his second non-consecutive term in January 2025, the administration has enacted the deportations of individuals from the United States to several African and Latin American states.

These actions by the White House have prompted legal and political challenges to what are clearly violations of both US and international law.

Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which was designed to provide people from countries which are undergoing natural disasters and political turmoil with the possibility of remaining inside the US, is being revoked for numerous nationalities. Even nationals which had sided with the US against their own governments are having their TPS status revoked.

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Just five years after the US military and administrative withdrawal from Afghanistan, those nationals who worked directly with Washington during the two decades of occupation by the Pentagon and NATO are now being told to leave. Others such as people from Venezuela and Syria are facing deportations even though many of them have renounced the revolutionary and socialist-oriented policies of their governments past and present. Even those who have openly proclaimed being loyal to the capitalist system are being told they cannot remain in the US.

Many of the deportees have been placed in detention facilities across the US and outside the country. El Salvador in Central America has been a site for illegal deportations.

In addition to El Salvador, several African states have agreed to accept deportees from the US which has been met with lawsuits regarding the Republic of Ghana where the administration of President John Mahama reached a secret deal with the Trump administration to accept people. Other states such as Eswatini, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Equatorial Guinea and Uganda have made agreements with Washington to accept third-country deportations. (See this)

Liberia Deportation Plan Reinforces Neo-Colonial Legacy

Most recently the Republic of Liberia, which has a long history of subservience to US neo-colonialism, agreed to accept 1,200 deportees. The escalation of deportees is designed to meet quotas set by the Trump administration to remove people from the US.

Many inside the US are saying that the “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) tendency within the Republican Party really means “Make America White Again.” Almost all of the targeted nationalities for deportation are from the Global South.

The specific focus on people from Latin America, Africa, the Caribbean and Asia speak volumes regarding the racist policies of the administration. Moreover, the removal of people of color from various geopolitical regions mirrors the domestic racism which has worsened under the present administration in Washington.

In the early phase of the second MAGA administration, the Trump White House has signed executive orders banning Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). In addition, higher educational institutions are being attacked under the guise of combating “wokeness” and false claims of antisemitism stemming from the growing Palestine solidarity movement on the campuses where students, staff and faculties are demanding full disclosure and divestment from entities conducting business with the State of Israel.

Therefore, despite the rhetoric saying that the migrant communities are bringing crime and threats of terrorism into the US, African Americans and other oppressed peoples are being victimized through executive orders, congressional decisions and supreme court rulings which attack voting rights, job opportunities and admissions into colleges and universities.

In a report published by National Public Radio on August 25, it says of the present situation:

“Under a series of often-secret agreements, the Trump administration has deported thousands of people to nearly two dozen countries that are not their own, advocates say, with about 10 (or more) of them in Africa. A key issue in the agreements is that they can involve migrants with protection orders from a U.S. immigration judge not to be returned to their home countries because of concerns for their safety. The Liberian minister did not say if the deportees expected in Liberia had such protection orders…. 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.” 

There are reportedly 15 African states who have accepted collaboration with the Trump administration. These governments have given different reasons for accepting deportees from the US who are not nationals of these specific African states.

Some, like Liberia, say their motivations are humanitarian. Others have mentioned reciprocal deals with Washington involving lower costs for admission visas into the US along with prospects for financial investments.

Ghana claimed that their agreement with the US only applies to people from the West Africa region. Yet, those who have been removed from detention facilities in the US to Ghana have complained about the conditions of removal and living arrangements once they arrive.

When the secret agreement between the Trump administration and Ghana was exposed during 2025, the judicial system in the US said that it did not have the capacity to force the return of these migrants which would be in line with domestic and international law.

US immigration agents place migrants on planes without telling them where they are being deported. Individuals being removed have reported that they were placed in straitjackets while being given only bread and water to consume.

With specific reference to Ghana, deportees say they were placed in a military camp under deplorable arrangements. Those flown to Ghana were not born there and had legally challenged the forced return to their own countries for specific reasons including threats of imprisonment, torture and other forms of persecution.

African states which have agreed to accept illegally deported people from the US are Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Ghana, Liberia, Libya, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Uganda. These policies undermine the overall image of African Union (AU) member-states making them appear to be surrogates of US imperialism.

Trump had openly referred to African states during his first administration in disparaging terms saying they were repositories for human waste. In the second non-consecutive term of office, the administration has cut off humanitarian assistance through agencies such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

After eliminating USAID and withdrawing from the WHO, the State Department has been negotiating bilateral agreements with African states. Some of these states have accepted these imposed agreements from Washington while others such as Zimbabwe and Zambia have rejected these proposals outright.

The Kenya government accepted a plan to build an Ebola treatment center for US citizens only so they would not reenter the country until they were medically cleared or effectively treated for the disease which has grown substantially in recent months. However, people held mass demonstrations forcing the government of President William Ruto to withdraw from the plan.

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Africa Remains Under Threat of Neo-Colonial Dominance

The imposition of the third-country deportations is further jeopardizing the potential for AU member-states to become self-reliant and genuinely sovereign. These deportations are illegal under the laws of the US as well as the United Nations.

Liberia was formed in the early 1820s as a place for the removal of formerly enslaved Africans from the US. The country became a republic in 1847, yet it has been dominated by the US government and multi-national corporations such as Firestone Rubber.

Although the Ghana government under Mahama has been an advocate of reparations for Africans due to the Atlantic Slave Trade and British colonialism, the secret deal with the Trump administration to receive migrants illegally deported from the US has undermined its political and moral authority as a spokesperson for the plight of Africans on the continent and throughout the world.

The AU Commission should address these contradictions in order to bolster its status as a viable regional organization committed to the unification of Africa. Under neo-colonialism, the new form of imperial domination, Africa will only become more underdeveloped through a form of indirect exploitation.

All of the negotiations conducted by the State Department and White House with African states are seeking further access to strategic minerals and metals. These resources belong to the majority of the African people for the purposes of human and infrastructural developments.

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Abayomi Azikiwe is the editor of the Pan-African News Wire. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG).

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