US judge faults deportation of Nigerians, Gambians to Ghana

A United States federal judge has criticised the Trump administration for deporting Nigerian and Gambian migrants to Ghana.

District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, sitting in Washington, DC, raised concerns on Saturday after lawyers representing some of the migrants argued that their clients risked torture or persecution if returned to their home countries.

The judge directed the US government to provide a sworn statement outlining safeguards to prevent Ghana from sending the migrants back to Nigeria or Gambia.

Chutkan described the arrangement as an “end run” around American immigration law, which prohibits deportations that could expose individuals to harm.

“I have not been shy about saying that I think this is a very suspicious scheme,” she was quoted by The New York Times as saying.

She added that the Trump administration appeared to have deliberately bypassed immigration rules when it transferred the migrants.

However, the judge declined to rule in favour of the plaintiffs, explaining: “There’s no point in getting decisions from me that are immediately going to be stayed” by the Supreme Court.

Five migrants, in a suit filed on Friday, alleged that they were moved from a detention facility in Louisiana, shackled, and placed aboard a US military aircraft without being informed of their destination.

The case, backed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Asian Americans Advancing Justice, argued that the deportees enjoyed legal protection against removal to Nigeria and Gambia.

But the US Department of Justice maintained that it no longer had custody of the migrants, insisting the court lacked jurisdiction over diplomatic decisions. It further cited a Supreme Court ruling allowing deportations to third countries.

Ghana’s President, John Mahama, recently confirmed an agreement with the United States to accept deported West Africans, disclosing that 14 migrants had already been received in the country.