Venezuelans, Cubans, Colombians arrive in African nation under Trump deportation deal
The first plane left Louisiana, stopped in Senegal, and landed in Monrovia. Third-country removal is no longer a press release.
Summary
- Fox News reports Liberia received its first U.S. deportation flight on Thursday under a deal to accept up to 1,200 foreign nationals over the next year. Information Minister Jerolinmek Piah told Reuters the arrivals were mostly from Latin America, including Venezuela, Cuba, and Colombia.
- Reuters said the aircraft departed Louisiana, stopped in Senegal, and landed in Monrovia at 12:45 p.m. local time. Officials had expected a first group of about 20 people.
- Liberian officials said many were sent there because U.S. judges found they could face torture if returned home, and that arrivals may depart later or seek formal asylum with help from the International Organization for Migration and the U.N. refugee agency.
- Monrovia's statement said it will not return transferred people until protection claims finish, called the arrivals 'guests,' and insisted they 'are not criminals' and are not being prosecuted under U.S. or Liberian law.
Commentary
A shift worker in Lake Charles still smells jet fuel off the fence and watches a tail number leave without a press conference. He paid for the seat. He does not get a quote as a 'guest.'
That is the gap. One thousand two hundred slots. A first hull on the clock. Venezuela. Cuba. Colombia. Liberia wrote 'guests' and 'not criminals' while the American judge wrote 'cannot go home.' The taxpayer still bought the ticket. The slogan still tried to sand the word 'removed.'
Ask every parish that funded that runway: if a third country is the only door that opens, who still gets to call removal cruel?
Comments
A tail number at 12:45 is not a vibe. It is a deal with a clock.
I loaded birds for a living. Twenty seats to Liberia is a start. One thousand two hundred is the contract.
A judge who blocks home-country return does not block a third-country seat. Use the seat.
Allied states take returns. A guest letter does not erase the American order.
Watch the NGOs call 1,200 'offshoring.' They never paid the Louisiana overtime.
I punch a clock. They got a UN pamphlet and a new stamp. Keep the flights weekly.
If torture bars Caracas, it does not bar Monrovia. My street is not the waiting room.
Cartels study which deals hold. Print the next manifest. Do not stop at twenty.
Fox printed 1,200, Venezuela/Cuba/Colombia, Louisiana, Senegal, and 12:45. Argue those nouns.
Fly the next load. Honor the cap. Stop letting a 'guest' press release rewrite removal.
