The West African nation of Liberia received its first group of third country deportees from the U.S. on Thursday. This group included migrants from Latin America, according to U.S. officials who spoke to CBS News. Approximately 20 deportees from various countries arrived in Liberia after being deported from the U.S.

An official from the U.S. reported that upon the plane’s arrival, a small group of these deportees resisted deplaning. They were initially escorted off but returned to the plane. Their current whereabouts remain unknown.

The Eastern Airline plane transporting these deportees was spotted at Roberts International Airport in Harbel, near Monrovia, Liberia’s capital. This new move is part of a broader strategy by the Trump administration to deport migrants to third countries where they have no ties, under the administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

The Liberian government has agreed to accept up to 1,200 deportees from the U.S. within the next year. These new arrivals will be given the opportunity to apply for asylum in Liberia.

In an illustration of this policy’s complexity, the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia is notable. Abrego Garcia was wrongfully deported to El Salvador last year but was later returned to the U.S. for prosecution on human smuggling charges. Efforts to send him to Liberia have been halted by a federal judge in Maryland.

The U.S. has established third country deportation agreements with numerous countries worldwide. This includes several African nations experiencing conflict, political instability, and human rights issues, such as South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Regular deportation flights are also directed at Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, and other African countries willing to receive these deportees. Human rights activists criticize these third country deportations as both inhumane and illegal under international law. They argue that deportees are often returned to nations they originally fled due to persecution.

However, the Trump administration defends these deportations as lawful and beneficial, claiming they serve as a deterrent to illegal immigration. The administration’s focus on third country deportations primarily targets migrants whose home countries refuse U.S. deportations or migrants who have legal protections preventing their return home.