BS BULLETIN:

• CBS News traveled to Liberia to report on migrants deported there under the Trump administration’s “third-country” removal policy.
• The deportees are being housed at a hotel near the beach while their immigration futures are sorted out.
• Liberia says the migrants aren’t prisoners and may seek legal status there, although questions remain about their freedom of movement and long-term status.

CBS News went all the way to Liberia to show viewers where migrants deported from the United States are now living “in limbo.”

And then the camera showed the hotel.

Correspondent Camilo Montoya-Galvez traveled to the West African nation for a report on migrants sent there under the Trump administration’s expanding “third-country” deportation program.

The policy allows the United States to deport some migrants to countries other than their homelands when returning them directly isn’t possible.

Liberia received its first group last month.

The migrants aren’t Liberian.

They include people from Venezuela, Cuba and other countries who were removed from the United States and suddenly found themselves thousands of miles away in West Africa.

CBS interviewed them at the hotel where the Liberian government has been housing the group.

And Twitchy couldn’t help noticing the scenery.

The report showed a multistory hotel near the Atlantic coast, complete with balconies and palm trees.

Not exactly the visual most viewers probably imagined when they heard deportees were stranded “in limbo.”

That doesn’t mean their situation is simple.

Several have said they have no ties to Liberia and remain uncertain about whether they should settle there, seek asylum, return to their home countries or pursue some other option.

One Venezuelan deportee previously told The New York Times that although officials said he was allowed to move around, he did not feel free.

Liberian officials tell a different story.

The government has described the deportees as “guests of the Republic,” said they are not detained and said they may seek residency or asylum.

The United States and an international organization are covering accommodation, food and eventual onward travel rather than leaving Liberia with the bill.

The arrangement could eventually become considerably larger.

Liberia has agreed to accept as many as 1,200 third-country deportees from the United States over a 12-month period.

The Trump administration argues these agreements give immigration authorities somewhere to send people who cannot readily be deported to their countries of origin.

Critics say sending migrants to unfamiliar nations where they have no connections raises serious humanitarian and legal questions.

There have also been troubling allegations surrounding the first flight.

Several migrants told The New York Times that ICE agents mistreated them during their removal. DHS disputed significant portions of those accounts, including allegations involving one migrant’s medical treatment.

A handful of passengers actually refused to get off the plane when it reached Liberia.

They ultimately ended up in Equatorial Guinea instead.

CBS’s latest contribution also produced one unintentionally memorable piece of television: A correspondent traveled roughly 4,500 miles to show Americans deportees stranded “in limbo.”

And Twitchy took one look at the accommodations and essentially asked: Does limbo always come with an ocean view?

MY QUICK TAKE:

CBS: They’re trapped in limbo.

Camera guy: Should I try not to get the palm trees, balconies and beach in the shot?

CBS: We’re going to need you to work with us here.

DBS WIRE SOURCES:

• Twitchy — CBS News flies to Liberia to show us hotel where deportees are being held ‘in limbo’
• CBS News — Liberia receives first group of ‘third country’ deportees from U.S.
• CBS News — ICE expands third-country deportations to Africa
• New York Times — Deportees sent to Liberia recount U.S. expulsion and life after arrival
• Al Jazeera — People deported by U.S. to Liberia face uncertain future