Ghana agrees to accept West Africans deported from US, president says

ACCRA (Reuters) -Ghana has agreed to accept West African nationals deported from the United States and 14 have already arrived in the country, President John Dramani Mahama told reporters on Wednesday.

U.S. President Donald Trump has taken a hardline approach toward immigration, aiming to deport millions of immigrants in the U.S. illegally and ramp up removals to third countries.

Rwanda received seven migrants deported from the United States in August, weeks after reaching an agreement with Washington for the transfer of up to 250 people.

Mahama did not specify a cap on how many migrants Ghana would accept. He justified the decision by saying West Africans "don't need a visa anyway" to travel to Ghana.

A group of 14 deportees including Nigerians and one Gambian have already arrived, and the government facilitated their return to their home countries, Mahama said.

(Reporting by Emmanuel Bruce; Writing by Robbie Corey-Boulet; Editing by Nia Williams)