'Surrounded by armed military guards in an open-air detention facility' – US deportees in Ghana cry

Five migrants deported to Ghana by the United States government under President Donald Trump have reportedly sued the government.

According to several reports, the deportees, who fear being sent back to their home countries, told the court through their lawyer that they have been subjected to inhumane living conditions in Ghana.

They claim they are being kept in terrible conditions under constant armed military protection.

Citing a report by CBS News, the attorneys representing the five deportees said their clients are being held in “squalid conditions and surrounded by armed military guards in an open-air detention facility.”

What US judge said about deportation of West African migrants to Ghana

One of the attorneys, Lee Gelernt of the American Civil Liberties Union, told the US District Court during a hearing on Saturday, September 13, 2025, that four of his clients had been informed they would be returned to their home countries, where they face grave danger.

He noted that one of the deportees, a bisexual man from The Gambia, had already been sent back despite a court order barring his deportation.

“Four of the deportees have been told that Ghana will return them to their native nations as early as Monday, even though U.S. immigration judges issued orders preventing their deportation due to fears of persecution or torture there. One man from Gambia, who attorneys say is bisexual, has already been returned,” the report stated.

Presiding Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered the US government to explain what measures it was taking to prevent the deportees “from being removed to their countries of origin or other countries where they fear persecution or torture.”

The District Court judge accused the Trump administration of attempting to do an “end-run” around its legal obligations through the deportation deal with Ghana.

She stressed that the US has a duty to protect people fleeing persecution and torture, yet a group of African migrants had been deported to Ghana only to face onward removal to their home countries.

Ghana ready to accept West African deportees from the USA – President Mahama

Meanwhile, President John Dramani Mahama has reiterated Ghana’s commitment to receiving West African nationals deported from the United States as part of President Trump’s immigration policy targeting undocumented migrants.

So far, 14 deportees, including Nigerians and one Gambian, have arrived in Ghana. The government is expected to facilitate their return to their respective home countries.

Speaking at his first press conference since assuming office eight months ago, President Mahama explained, “We were approached by the US to accept third-party nationals who were being removed from the US, and we agreed that West African nationals were acceptable because all our fellow West Africans don’t need a visa to come to Ghana.”

He added that Ghana cannot reject or turn away the deportees, since as a member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), it is bound by protocols that permit citizens of member states to travel freely within the region without visas.

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