U.S. Deportees Describe Abuse During Removal to West Africa

In an August 31, 2026 article, The New York Times reports that a group of immigrants deported by the Trump administration to Liberia has described violent and degrading treatment by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials during detention and a 14-hour flight from Louisiana to West Africa. The flight carried more than two dozen people and was the first under an agreement through which Liberia is expected to accept as many as 1,200 deportees over the coming year.

The New York Times interviewed 10 passengers, all of whom said they had experienced or witnessed abuse. Leonardo Sánchez, a 49-year-old Cuban with a severely damaged abdomen, said restraints caused him excruciating pain. He alleged that agents refused to unchain him or permit him to use a toilet, and later pressed against his abdomen while forcibly removing him from the aircraft. Other deportees reported being struck, thrown to the floor, or threatened after resisting removal.

The Department of Homeland Security denied that detainees were beaten, tortured, or deprived of medical care. It said Sánchez had been declared medically fit to fly and received appropriate attention. The department characterized him as a criminal who had received due process and been ordered removed.

Several deportees also described overcrowded detention centers, repeated transfers between facilities, inadequate medical treatment, and confinement in extremely cold rooms they called “the freezer.” An immigration lawyer said frequent transfers can make it difficult for detainees to obtain counsel and challenge their removal.

The administration is increasingly deporting people to “third countries” when they cannot be returned to their homelands or refuse to return. Some deportees had court orders protecting them from repatriation because of possible persecution. The legality of the policy remains under judicial review.

Most passengers were housed under guard in Liberia, where officials said they could seek residency. Several who refused to leave the plane were instead taken to Equatorial Guinea. The deportees now face a painful choice: remain in unfamiliar African countries where they have no ties, or return to homelands they fled in fear.