A US judge has expressed concerns that the Trump administration intentionally circumvented immigration laws by deporting Nigerian and Gambian migrants to Ghana, potentially putting them at risk of torture or persecution.
Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered the administration to file a report explaining how it would prevent Ghana from sending the migrants to their home countries, where they fear harm.
The migrants were taken from a Louisiana detention center, shackled, and flown to Ghana on a US military plane without knowing their destination.
One migrant, a bisexual man, has already been sent to Gambia and is reportedly in hiding. The others are being held in squalid conditions in a Ghanaian military detention facility.
The Trump administration defended its actions, citing a recent Supreme Court decision allowing the government to send migrants to countries other than their origin.
However, Judge Chutkan questioned the administration’s motives, saying it appeared to be an “end run” around US legal requirements.
Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama stated that his nation had agreed to accept West African deportees from the US, and 14 people had already arrived.
However, opposition lawmakers in Ghana have criticized the agreement, calling for its suspension and arguing that it could damage the country’s reputation.
