Monrovia – Liberia is poised to become the latest country to receive deportees from the United States of America in the wake of the deadly Coronavirus pandemic. FrontPageAfrica has learned that at least twelve Liberians will arrive in the country on Wednesday, May 27 on a special flight at the Roberts International Airport.
According to the deportation list in possession of FrontPageAfrica, the deportees, all males from New Orleans, Atlanta, St. Paul Minnesota and Philadelphia were engaged in numerous offenses during their stay in the US, including aggravated assault, cruelty toward child, identity theft, drug trafficking, burglary, possession of weapons, sex assault and fraud.
Since the outbreak started in March, the US Immigration and Custom Enforcement(ICE) has completed 17,965 removals, according to agency records. Total deportations have declined so far in April, however, with 2,985 removals of foreign nationals from all countries.
Since the outbreak started in March, the US Immigration and Custom Enforcement(ICE) has completed 17,965 removals, according to agency records. Total deportations have declined so far in April, however, with 2,985 removals of foreign nationals from all countries.
Some countries, struggling to deal with the pandemic have in recent weeks rebuffed the US for putting their citizens at risk by sending deportees to their homeland.
Despite the criticism, the Trump administration has been pushing forward with its aggressive immigration enforcement agenda, deporting thousands of people to their home countries, including some who are sick with the virus.
Last week, dozens of Guatemalans were deported, drawing rebuke from Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei who criticized the United States on Thursday for sending back migrants infected with the novel coronavirus to his Central American country and straining its weak health system.
FrontPageAfrica has been unable to verify whether any of those being deported to Liberia have tested positive for the killer disease. However, in next door Sierra Leone, where 85 deportees arrived from Kuwait last week, the government ordered a retest and 67 of the 85 tested positive, according to the influential Politico newspaper.
The arrival this week comes just days after a member of the Liberian security forces under the regime of Liberian President Charles Taylor was deported to Liberia.
Alexander Mentol Zinnah, 56, arrived in Liberia escorted by ERO officers on board an ICE charter removal flight and was turned over to Liberian law enforcement authorities.
In 2017, ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) St. Paul arrested Zinnah for immigration violations and violating the terms of his parole into the U.S. HSI St. Paul’s investigation revealed Zinnah was a member of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), a rebel group led by Charles Taylor that engaged in a wide range of human rights abuses including massacres, torture, and kidnapping.
Zinnah was also a member of the Liberian National Police and served as a commander in Grand Gedeh County, Liberia, during the time that Charles Taylor was President of Liberia. Charles Taylor was convicted in 2012 and sentenced to 50 years imprisonment by an international court for human rights violations in Sierra Leone from1997-2003. He is currently serving his sentence in the United Kingdom.