ICE deports ex-Liberian fighter accused of torture, recruiting child soldiers
Former Liberian Combatant Deported After 19 Years in the United States
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) removed 55‑year‑old Amos Sheik Massaquoi from the United States and returned him to Liberia on August 11, 2025. Massaquoi had lived in the U.S. for almost two decades and is believed to have played a key role in the 1989‑2003 civil wars that claimed nearly 250,000 lives in Liberia.
Massaquoi first entered the United States in August 2006 on a temporary visa that expired in November of the same year. He remained in the country illegally until August 2019, when the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) office in Maryland arrested him for being unlawfully present. An immigration judge granted him bond less than two months later, and he was released. However, in April 2025, ICE Baltimore took Massaquoi back into custody after he allegedly failed to comply with the conditions of his release. A month later, an immigration judge ordered his removal.
ICE officials say Massaquoi served as the chief bodyguard for Major General Daniel Chea, a former commander of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) and a close associate of former President Charles Taylor. According to ICE, the former soldier was involved in extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary arrests and detentions, forced labor, and the recruitment of child soldiers during Liberia’s civil wars. HSI Maryland’s Special Agent in Charge, Akil Baldwin, stated: “Amos Sheik Massaquoi is believed to have engaged in cruelty and terror, marked by killings, torture, forced labor, unlawful imprisonment and the recruitment of children into armed conflict. If it is confirmed that an individual has engaged in such bloodshed anywhere in the world, then you have no place in the United States.”
Massaquoi also received specialized military training at an academy in China in 2004, one year after the end of Liberia’s second civil war. His deportation follows ICE’s broader efforts to remove individuals who have committed serious human rights violations abroad. Since 2003, the agency has arrested more than 520 people for human‑rights‑related offenses, removed 1,178 known or suspected violators, and prevented over 415 from entering the United States.
“Ice will pursue, arrest, and remove any individuals who committed atrocities abroad and ensure our communities are not used as a sanctuary from accountability,” said Frank Padula, director of ICE’s Chicago field office. “If you are a confirmed human rights violator, and you believe you can hide in the United States, you are mistaken.”
Liberian officials have agreed to accept 1,200 third‑country deportees from the United States within a year. The return of Massaquoi is part of that arrangement.
Massaquoi’s case underscores the U.S. government’s ongoing focus on holding individuals accountable for war crimes and human‑rights abuses committed overseas. The agency has established a Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center to track suspects and collaborate with international partners in enforcing removal orders. The center also encourages the public to report potential human‑rights violators in the U.S. by calling the ICE tip line at 866‑DHS‑2‑ICE or submitting a tip online.