The United States flies five people who are being removed from the country via a “third-country” deportation process from Liberia to Equatorial Guinea after they resist leaving an aircraft, according to reports citing sources.
The New York Times and Cyprus Mail describe that the deportees were first brought to Liberia under the Trump administration’s third-country program and then refused to deplane. After the resistance, US officials transfer them to Equatorial Guinea, another destination used for removals when the US cannot legally send people to their countries of origin.
Both outlets frame the episode as an early complication for the deportation effort connected to limitations on where people can be sent. Cyprus Mail, citing two sources familiar with the matter, reports the incident and notes it reflects the US also moving migrants to Equatorial Guinea under the same broader approach. The New York Times similarly links the transfer to the administration’s third-country deportation plan but focuses on the sequence of events: attempted departure in Liberia, resistance on the plane, and subsequent flight to Equatorial Guinea.
