President Trump has come under fire over the controversial deportation of West African Migrants.
NewsOnline Nigeria reports that a U.S. federal judge on Saturday sharply criticised the Trump administration for what appeared to be an intentional attempt to bypass immigration laws by deporting Nigerian and Gambian migrants to Ghana.
Judge Tanya Chutkan, presiding in Washington, D.C., held an emergency hearing after lawyers argued that their clients faced the risk of torture or persecution if returned to their home countries. She ordered the administration to provide, by 9 p.m. EDT, a detailed explanation of measures being taken to ensure Ghana does not send the migrants onward to Nigeria or Gambia.
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Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama confirmed that his country had agreed with the U.S. to accept West African deportees and had already received 14 individuals under the arrangement.
Chutkan remarked that the deal appeared designed “to make an end run” around U.S. legal protections that prohibit sending migrants to countries where they face danger. “These are not speculative concerns,” she said. “The concerns are real enough that the United States government agrees they shouldn’t be sent back to their home country.”
A lawsuit filed on Friday detailed that five migrants were removed from a Louisiana detention center, shackled, and placed on a U.S. military plane without being informed of their destination. Reports indicated that some were allegedly confined in straitjackets for up to 16 hours. One plaintiff, a bisexual man, has already been sent to Gambia and gone into hiding, while four others remain in harsh conditions at a Ghanaian military facility.
The U.S. Department of Justice argued that it no longer had custody of the migrants and claimed the court could not intervene in diplomatic matters. Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security denied the use of straitjackets but did not address the broader legal concerns.
The deportations have sparked criticism in Ghana, where opposition lawmakers called for suspension of the agreement, arguing that it should have been approved by parliament. Critics also warned that the deal risks aligning Ghana with “harsh and discriminatory” U.S. immigration policies.
