(Reuters) – The Trump administration this week pressed five African presidents to take in migrants from other countries when they are deported by the U.S., two officials familiar with the discussions told Reuters on Thursday.
The White House and official spokespeople for the five nations did not respond to requests for comment. It was not immediately clear if any of the countries had agreed to the plan.
Wednesday’s meeting at the White House had been organised partly to talk about the deportation plan, the U.S. official said. Liberia’s government was “preparing to accommodate” an effort to house migrants in its capital Monrovia, the U.S. official added.
The Liberian official confirmed that the deportation plan was a focus of Wednesday’s meeting, but did not say whether Liberian President Joseph Boakai had agreed to it.
Under the proposed plan, the governments would agree not to send the migrants “to their home country or country of former habitual residence until a final decision has been made” on their U.S. asylum bids, according to the report.
Reuters has not seen a copy of the State Department document and could not confirm its contents.
“I hope we can bring down the high rates of people overstaying visas, and also make progress on the safe third country agreements,” Trump added.
He was accompanied by Massad Boulos, senior adviser for Africa, and aide Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner.