Ghana has formally confirmed that it will receive West African nationals deported from the United States, with the first group of 14 already landing in the country this week. The announcement was made by President John Dramani Mahama during a late-night press briefing on Wednesday, underscoring Accra’s role in a broader U.S. push to expand removals across the African continent.
The development comes as Washington intensifies its immigration crackdown under President Donald Trump. His administration has pledged to deport millions of people living illegally in the United States and is increasingly turning to African nations to accept not only their own citizens but also nationals from other countries within the region.
First Group of Deportees Arrives
According to Mahama, the initial group included Nigerians and a Gambian national who were placed on a flight to Ghana earlier this week. Once in Accra, Ghanaian authorities facilitated their repatriation to their respective home countries. The president emphasized that his government worked closely with U.S. officials to manage their safe transfer and onward travel.
Mahama did not disclose whether there is an upper limit to the number of deportees Ghana is prepared to accept. Instead, he explained that the arrangement was practical given existing regional agreements. West Africans, he stressed, do not require a visa to enter Ghana.
“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,” Mahama said.
Trump’s Hardline Immigration Policy
The acceptance of these deportees is directly tied to President Trump’s wider agenda. The administration has adopted a high-profile approach to deportations, using transfers to so-called “third countries” as both a deterrent and a show of force. Migrants and human rights advocates, however, have raised concerns that such policies put vulnerable individuals at risk by sending them to places where they may not have ties or adequate protections.
The Trump administration has already secured similar agreements elsewhere in Africa. In July, five people were deported to Eswatini and eight to South Sudan. In August, Rwanda accepted seven deportees following a deal to receive up to 250 migrants over time. These measures highlight a growing U.S. reliance on African nations as partners in its immigration enforcement strategy.
Regional Diplomacy and U.S. Engagement
Trump also sought to reinforce these agreements through high-level diplomacy. On July 9, he hosted five West African leaders at the White House. According to sources familiar with the meeting, one of the key objectives was to encourage these leaders to accept deportees not only from their own countries but also from other parts of the region. President Mahama, however, was not among those invited to Washington.
While Ghana has now publicly confirmed its participation, the long-term implications of this arrangement remain uncertain. It is unclear whether Ghana will eventually set a limit on the number of deportees it can reasonably manage, and the government has not provided details on how such cases will be handled logistically in the future.
Broader Implications
For Ghana, the decision positions the country as a cooperative partner in U.S. immigration policy but also raises questions about domestic capacity and regional responsibility. Accepting deportees who are not Ghanaian nationals could strain resources and ignite debate among the Ghanaian public over the benefits and risks of such an agreement.
For the U.S., the move strengthens its strategy of expanding deportation partnerships abroad, a cornerstone of Trump’s immigration agenda. Yet, the policy has already drawn criticism from human rights advocates who argue that outsourcing deportations to countries with limited capacity undermines migrant protections and destabilizes local systems.
As the first group of deportees makes its way back to their home countries through Ghana, both Washington and Accra will face mounting scrutiny over how these transfers are managed and whether they ultimately serve the interests of affected migrants and the broader region.
