In brief
A lawsuit filed in Washington accuses the U.S. government of inhumane treatment of West African deportees. Passengers reported being shackled and denied proper food during a military flight to Ghana. After arrival, they faced squalid conditions in a detention camp. Legal action seeks to halt deportations to countries deemed dangerous by U.S. immigration judges.
Some West Africans deported from the U.S. to Ghana were reportedly held in straitjackets for 16 hours during a military flight, a new federal lawsuit alleges. The case, filed on behalf of five migrants, states that all passengers on the flight were shackled and received just bread and water.
The lawsuit, filed on Friday in Washington, argues that passengers were awakened in the middle of the night on September 5 without being informed of their destination until hours into the flight. After their arrival, the migrants were detained in appalling conditions for five days at a facility known as Dema Camp in Ghana.
The lawsuit describes the conditions as 'abysmal and deplorable,' with inadequate shelter and limited access to running water. The migrants involved in the lawsuit are not originally from Ghana and have been informed they may be deported to countries deemed unsafe by U.S. immigration judges. This legal challenge emerges amidst ongoing scrutiny of the Trump administration's policies regarding deportations to third countries.
Filed by Asian Americans Advancing Justice, the complaint calls for an immediate halt to deportations based on prior fear-based relief granted by U.S. officials.
The lawsuit highlights a troubling pattern alleging that the U.S. government is abdicating its responsibilities by relying on others to facilitate deportations in violation of previous immigration rulings.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have not yet responded to media inquiries regarding the claims made in the lawsuit.
Following the lawsuit, reports indicated that 14 deportees had recently arrived in Ghana, adding to concerns about how the U.S. administration deals with deportees from third-party nations.
