MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — Liberia has agreed to accept up to 1,200 third-country deportees from the United States, authorities in the West African country said Tuesday, in one of the largest such arrangements under the Trump administration’s policy aimed at deterring illegal migration.
The deportees will be received within a year, with the first batch of 20 expected on Thursday, Liberia’s Information Minister Jerolinmek Piah told reporters. The 1,200 deportees will include Africans as well as nationals from North America, South America and the Caribbean, Piah said.
The administration has struck several such third-country deportation deals with African countries. Under a series of often-secret agreements that are part of a broad U.S. crackdown on illegal immigration, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has deported thousands of people to nearly two dozen countries that are not their own, advocates say.
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.
They “may wish to seek asylum” in Liberia after their arrival or “can leave the country whenever they desire,” Piah said.
Piah added that Liberia will receive support from the U.S. to manage the program and strengthen its migration system.
“Liberia’s gesture is entirely humanitarian and in keeping with the country’s longstanding traditions,” he said.
FILE -Liberia's President Joseph Boakai addresses the 80th session of the UN General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, Sept. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis, File)
A former Venezuelan baseball player working for the San Diego Padres was detained by U.S. immigration officers after arriving in Texas on a work trip for the club, his family said Tuesday.
Oswaldo Pirela, a catching coach in the Padres' minor league system, was being held in a detention center in El Paso, federal records show. The Padres said in a statement that the team was aware of Pirela's arrest and was trying to gather more details.
Pirela was on a work trip when he was arrested Sunday around 5 a.m. at an airport in El Paso, according to Daniela Pirela, his sister. The Padres have a minor league affiliate team in the city, the El Paso Chihuahuas.
Daniela Pirela said her 34-year-old brother has lived in the U.S. for 12 years and has followed the law. She said he applied for asylum in 2015 and lives in Peoria, Arizona, with his wife and two children, ages 9 and 4, who are both U.S. citizens.
“Since he arrived in this country, the only thing he’s done is follow the rules of this country and do things properly,” Daniela Pirela told The Associated Press.
The Department of Homeland Security said Oswaldo Pirela entered the country legally in 2014 and was granted permission to stay until 2018. He then “overstayed his welcome,” DHS said in a statement, adding that work authorization or pending applications “do not confer” U.S. legal status.
Pirela is in ICE custody pending removal, DHS said.
Oswaldo Pirela had a brief minor-league playing career as a catcher in the Texas Rangers organization.
Turbay is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
FILE - Detailed view of a San Diego Padres logo on a pitching mound during batting practice prior to a baseball game between the Padres and Boston Red Sox, May 20, 2023, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Brandon Sloter, File)
