West African migrants deported from the United States to Ghana allege they were subjected to brutal treatment during the journey, including being bound in “straitjackets” for 16 hours, shackled, and given only bread and water. Their claims are detailed in a lawsuit filed Friday in federal court in Washington on behalf of five deportees.
The complaint states that the group was woken abruptly in the middle of the night on September 5, placed aboard a U.S. military cargo plane, and left uncertain about their destination until hours after takeoff.
Since arrival, the migrants have been confined at Dema Camp in Ghana, a site they describe as an open-air detention facility with tents for shelter, scarce running water, and armed military guards. The lawsuit calls the conditions “abysmal and deplorable.”
Beyond the treatment in Ghana, the legal filing warns that the U.S. is attempting to redirect migrants to countries deemed unsafe by immigration judges, part of a broader Trump administration practice of transferring deportees to third nations such as El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama, and several African states.
“Defendants have enlisted the government of Ghana to do their dirty work,” the complaint says. “Despite the minimal, pass-through involvement of the Ghanaian government, Defendants’ objective is clear: deport individuals who have been granted fear-based relief from being sent to their countries of origin to those countries anyway, in contravention to the rulings of U.S. immigration judges and U.S. immigration law.”
Filed by lawyers from Asian Americans Advancing Justice, the suit asks the court to immediately block deportations to countries where migrants face threats to their lives.
The legal challenge followed one day after Ghana’s president confirmed the arrival of 14 deportees. Ghana now joins Eswatini, Rwanda, and South Sudan as African nations that have accepted migrants from third countries under U.S. arrangements.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly defended his immigration policies, portraying deported migrants as criminals and “aliens” from nations where visa overstays are common. Human rights advocates counter that his administration is pushing vulnerable individuals into unsafe environments while leveraging U.S. influence over trade, aid, and migration agreements.
None of the 14 deportees were originally from Ghana. The five plaintiffs, three Nigerians and two Gambians, say they never identified the country as a potential destination for removal, according to AP’s report. The lawsuit warns that four face imminent deportation to their countries of origin, despite credible fears of persecution. One of the five has already been sent to The Gambia, where he is reportedly in hiding.
According to the complaint, all 14 were taken from an ICE detention facility in Alexandria, Louisiana, before being flown out under the disputed operation.
