An African nation leader who met with President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday said his country would not take third-country deportees from the U.S.
The president of Guinea-Bissau said his country would accept deportees who are citizens of his country, but would not be interested in those from any other nation.
The Hill reported that President Umaro Sissoco Embaló of Guinea-Bissau, a small country situated along the western Atlantic coast of Africa, said that Trump raised the idea about accepting third-country deportees, but did not put it in front of the group of African leaders as a direct or probing question.
Embaló was responding to reporters' questions at an Atlantic Council meeting when he said, "If they are our citizen of Guinea-Bissau, if they want to go back to Guinea-Bissau, of course they are going back home. But if they are another citizen, why we going (to take) them? No, our policy don't accept that."
The Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump administration attempted to sound out the African leaders by correspondence in advance of their White House meeting about assisting the U.S. with detaining illegal aliens. There's no indication from the leaders of the other nations attending the Wednesday White House meeting if they are interested.
The U.S. has agreements with El Salvador and Panama to accept third-country detainees and would like to broaden its options.
Jim Mishler ✉
Jim Mishler, a seasoned reporter, anchor and news director, has decades of experience covering crime, politics and environmental issues.
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