Sierra Leone steps into controversial US immigration relocation framework

As part of President Donald Trump's increased crackdown on illegal immigration, Sierra Leone has become the most recent African country to receive individuals deported from the United States.

• Sierra Leone recently received nine deported migrants from the United States as part of President Trump's intensified immigration policies.
• The deportees, visibly distressed, arrived at Lungi International Airport and included people from Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, and Senegal.
• Sierra Leone has agreed to potentially accept up to 300 deportees annually, provided they originate from ECOWAS member nations.
• The U.S. has made similar deportation arrangements with other African countries, including Eswatini, Rwanda, Ghana, Cameroon, and Uganda, often involving non-nationals.

On Wednesday morning, a plane carrying nine migrants from West Africa touched down at Lungi International Airport, close to the capital, Freetown.

Officials said the group consisted of two ladies and seven men, all of whom were clearly upset when they arrived.

Security officers reportedly had to physically remove one deportee who refused to get off the plane, as seen on the BBC.

Sierra Leone's Foreign Minister, Timothy Kabba, previously acknowledged that the government had agreed to receive up to 300 deportees from the United States each year.

However, he noted that those received must have originated from member nations of the Economic Community of West African nations, a regional bloc that allows for relatively unfettered movement among its 15 member countries.

According to officials, five of the latest arrivals are from Ghana, two from Guinea, and one each from Nigeria and Senegal.

ECOWAS norms allow people of member states to travel and stay within the area without a visa for up to 90 days; this agreement does not apply to deportations from outside the continent.

Since returning to power, Trump has increased efforts to tighten border controls and expedite the expulsion of undocumented migrants, including sending some to countries where they did not previously dwell.

The recent arrival in Sierra Leone demonstrates the policy's growing reach and raises concerns across West Africa about regional collaboration, migration management, and the long-term consequences of admitting deportees from beyond the continent's usual migration routes.

Previous deportation sagas in Africa

Back in July 2025, a deportation flight carrying immigrants from Yemen, Cuba, Laos, Vietnam, and Jamaica landed in Eswatini, marking one of the initial US-Africa deportation episodes.

These migrants, according to U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin, were described as depraved monsters, which sparked conversations on the US policy, especially considering that the deportees were not African.

By August of the same year, the United States had reached a new agreement with Rwanda to deport up to 250 migrants to the East African nation.

Shortly after the deal, Rwanda, which at the time stood as the third African nation to agree to the deportation, after South Sudan and Eswatini, received 7 of these US migrants.

By September, Ghana agreed to President Donald Trump’s immigration policy, with 14 West African migrants arriving shortly after finalizing negotiations.

“We were approached by the U.S. to accept third-party nationals who were being removed from the U.S., and we agreed with them that West African nationals were acceptable because all our fellow West Africans don’t need a visa to come to our country,” the president of Ghana told reporters.

In February 2026, the West African country of Cameroon received deportees, none of whom were Cameroonian nationals, from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security flight from Alexandria, Louisiana.

In April, Uganda began receiving individuals approved by U.S. immigration authorities, in line with its national laws and international obligations, including the principle of non-refoulement.