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A U.S. federal judge has challenged the Trump administration’s decision to deport Nigerian and Gambian migrants to Ghana, describing the move as a possible attempt to bypass American immigration laws.
Judge Tanya Chutkan of Washington D.C. raised the issue during an emergency hearing after lawyers representing the deportees argued that their clients had expected to be returned to Nigeria and Gambia — countries where they feared torture and persecution.
She ordered the administration to submit a report by Saturday evening outlining steps to prevent Ghana from transferring the migrants to their home countries. According to her, the arrangement appeared designed “to make an end run” around laws that prohibit deportations to places where migrants could face danger.
“These are not speculative concerns,” Judge Chutkan stressed. “The concerns are real enough that the United States government agrees they shouldn’t be sent back to their home country.”
Earlier this week, President John Dramani Mahama confirmed that Ghana had received 14 deportees under an agreement with the U.S., most of them Nigerians and one Gambian national.
The deportations are part of former President Donald Trump’s strategy of relocating migrants to “third countries” in order to speed up removals and tighten immigration enforcement.
A lawsuit filed on Friday by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Asian Americans Advancing Justice alleges that some migrants were shackled, flown on a U.S. military aircraft without being told their destination, and restrained in straitjackets for up to 16 hours. One deportee, a bisexual man, has reportedly gone into hiding in Gambia. Others are being housed in an open-air facility run by the Ghanaian military, which lawyers say has poor living conditions.
The U.S. Department of Justice has argued that the court lacks authority in diplomatic matters, while the Department of Homeland Security denied the use of straitjackets but refused to comment on broader claims of law circumvention.
In Ghana, the deal has drawn criticism from opposition lawmakers, who insist Parliament should have approved the arrangement. They warn that the agreement risks making Ghana appear complicit in what they describe as the U.S. government’s harsh and discriminatory immigration policies.
