A civil rights group filed a suit on Friday, 12th September, accusing the Trump administration of illegally deporting five African migrants to Ghana.
According to the suit, four of them were bound in straitjackets during a 16-hour flight, in what the group called a deliberate effort to circumvent U.S. immigration court rulings.
The lawsuit, brought in federal court in Washington by Asian Americans Advancing Justice, contends that immigration judges had already granted protection to the five men — three from Nigeria and two from Gambia — on the grounds that they faced persecution or torture if returned home.
Yet, the group said, Immigration and Customs Enforcement flew the men overnight from a Louisiana detention center to Ghana, where one has already been transferred to Gambia and gone into hiding.
“Defendants have enlisted the government of Ghana to do their dirty work,” the lawsuit asserts, describing the deportations as an unlawful “end run” around U.S. law.
At an emergency hearing on Saturday, U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan suggested the administration had devised a plan to bypass the legal protections granted by immigration courts. She ordered the government to provide more information on how it intends to prevent the men from being sent onward to their home countries.
The White House and State Department declined to comment. In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security rejected the claim that the men had been restrained in straitjackets, calling the allegations “smears against our brave ICE law enforcement.”
Deportations To Ghana and “Third Countries”
The deportations appear to be part of President Donald J. Trump’s “third country” removal policy, under which migrants may be sent to nations other than their own.
The president of Ghana, John Mahama, confirmed last week that 14 West Africans had recently arrived under that program.
According to the complaint, the five plaintiffs were roused from their cells before dawn on Sept. 5 and loaded onto a U.S. military cargo plane. For the duration of the flight, four of them were strapped into straitjackets, fed only bread and water, and shackled while using the bathroom, the lawsuit said.
Upon arrival in Ghana, the men were taken to an outdoor encampment with “abysmal and deplorable” conditions, including inadequate water and only tents for shelter, according to the complaint. None of the plaintiffs has ties to Ghana, nor was it listed as a possible destination during their immigration proceedings.
One of the men, a Gambian national who identifies as bisexual, was later transferred to his home country, where same-sex relationships are criminalized. He was granted protection in the United States on that basis, but is now in hiding, the lawsuit said.
Another plaintiff is married to a U.S. citizen whose spousal petition had already been approved.
Immigration advocates say the case highlights the risks of expanding deportations to third countries with little oversight.
“It reflects a very concerning pattern,” said Noah Baron, assistant litigation director at Asian Americans Advancing Justice, “in which the administration knows, or reasonably should know, that people will be in grave danger.”
The lawsuit asks the court to order the men returned to the United States and to block the administration from using Ghana or other transit countries in deportation proceedings.
This article was edited with AI and reviewed by human editors
