President Mahama confirms Ghana is now among five African nations accepting US deportees
Ghana has formally joined four other African countries in reaching an agreement with Washington to accept deportees from the United States, President John Dramani Mahama has confirmed.
Speaking at a media engagement in Accra on Wednesday evening, the President revealed that 14 deportees, among them Nigerians and one Gambian, had already arrived in Ghana before being transferred to their home countries.
“We were approached by the US to accept third-party nationals who were being removed from the US 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,” President Mahama explained.
Although he did not indicate how many deportees Ghana would ultimately take in, the agreement places the country alongside Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan and Eswatini, all of whom have struck similar deals with Washington in recent months.
Uganda’s foreign ministry announced in August that it would accept migrants deported from the US on condition that they had no criminal record and were not unaccompanied minors. Rwanda confirmed its own arrangement with Washington the same month, while South Sudan disclosed last week that it had received a Mexican deportee in July. Eswatini, meanwhile, has accepted deportees from outside Africa, including individuals from Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, Yemen and Cuba.
The policy comes as US President Donald Trump intensifies his hardline stance on immigration ahead of the November elections, pledging to step up removals of undocumented immigrants and expand the use of so-called “third country” deportations.
At a rally in Arizona, Mr Trump described the US as a “dumping ground” under his predecessor Joe Biden, telling Republican supporters: “We’re like a garbage can for the world. That’s what’s happened.”
Ghana’s decision coincides with recent trade and visa restrictions imposed by Washington. Tariffs on Ghanaian goods have been raised from 10 to 15 per cent, while Ghanaian travellers to the US are now limited to single-entry visas valid for just three months.
Despite criticism from some quarters, President Mahama defended the arrangement, insisting that it was consistent with Ghana’s open-border policy for West Africans. “We have survived without borrowing. We shouldn’t be in a hurry to go back to the capital market. It is all about fiscal discipline,” he said, stressing that the priority remained on protecting national interests while honouring international obligations.
