Trump's third-country deportations leave migrants stranded in Liberia

The Trump administration's drive to deport immigrants to third countries has left people stranded in West Africa, including in Liberia. The policy is part of a much more aggressive immigration crackdown. In August, arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement reached nearly 51,000, a new high. More than 1,000 people are being deported each day on average. Officials describe removals to third countries as a show of force meant to deter people from entering the United States without permission.

Human rights groups say the administration has struck around 35 deals with some of the world's poorest countries to take deportees who cannot be returned to their original homes. Many of these countries are in Central and West Africa. At least 63 people have been sent to Equatorial Guinea, 41 to Sierra Leone, 92 to the Central African Republic and 15 to Liberia. In total, more than 25,000 people have been deported to countries that are not their own, with the majority sent to Mexico.

Liberia's capital, Monrovia, is a city and nation founded as a home for freed slaves from America. It has now joined a list of developing countries that have agreed to accept foreign deportees. Under the deal with Liberia, up to 1,200 people will be deported there. The first group has been housed in a building on the outskirts of town run by Liberia's refugee agency. Fifteen people are living there, mostly from Latin America. They are free to come and go and say they have been treated well, but they are stuck with nothing to do, no knowledge of the language and no clear idea of what happens next.

Among them is Carlos, from Venezuela, who fled violence and entered the United States illegally five years ago. A judge granted him withholding of removal, meaning he could not be deported to his home country. He had a work permit, a driver's licence and a Social Security number. He says he complied with the law and was not a criminal. He was arrested during a routine immigration check-in and held for eight months before the flight to Liberia. His wife and five-month-old son are still in Dallas. He was not given the chance to say goodbye.

Elvis, originally from Honduras, had lived in Texas for eight years and worked in construction. He is now separated from his wife and four children. Paul, originally from Brazil, is also among the group. The deportees have no obvious route home and little connection to Liberia.

The Liberian government gets money and other benefits from Washington for accepting deportees. Liberia is one of the world's poorest countries and is still recovering from years of brutal civil war. Some people there question the morality of the scheme. One local said that if they are deportees they should remain in America because America has better security, and asked why they were being brought to Liberia if the US could not keep them. Others have shown kindness to Carlos.

Carlos can apply for asylum in Liberia or try to find another country that will accept him. He still dreams of returning to America, however small the chance. For now, an ocean separates him from his wife, his child and the life he had built.

The removals have ramped up significantly in Trump's second term. The policy is driven by deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, who has pushed for a level of immigration enforcement and removal not seen before. A new Office for Remigration has caused controversy because the word has been adopted by the far right. The administration says it will use every legal means at its disposal to remove people, including through third countries such as Liberia.