Ghanaian man jailed 3 years in US for resisting deportation

A man has been sentenced to three years in prison for not cooperating with United States of America authorities in his deportation from the country. According to District Court in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, the Ghanaian by name Patrick Owusu did everything to hinder his removal form the US.

A statement from the U.S State Department of Justice in 2012 opined that Owusu should be sent back to Ghana after he was “convicted of several serious criminal offences while residing in the United States”.

On two occasions - March 31, 2014, and May 28, 2014, Owusu refused to board a plane to his home country, Ghana. Immigration officials attempted to remove him from the US but it proved futile.

Owusu has since remained in custody but he is to be deported back to Ghana following this sentence. The case was investigated by officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Phillip J. Caraballo. Indications from as far back as 2017 indicated that 7,000 Ghanaians were facing deportation.

The then-US ambassador to Ghana, Robert P. Jackson, said the 7,000 were guilty of various immigration offences and had abused the terms of their visas. At the time, he said the Ghanaians were at different stages of the deportation process.

But the government said it did not want to rush the process and wanted to thoroughly vet the said deportees.

Ghana is currently contending with visa sanctions by the US for its purported lack of cooperation in accepting Ghanaians deported.