Three Nigerians who were recently deported from the United States and left in Ghana have filed a lawsuit in Washington, D.C., challenging the legality of their removal and accusing U.S. authorities of subjecting them to inhumane treatment.
The lawsuit, filed on Friday at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, was brought on behalf of the deportees by the Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC). Alongside the Nigerians, two Gambian nationals joined as plaintiffs. They were identified in court documents only by their initials—D.A., T.L., I.O., D.S., and K.S.
The plaintiffs allege that they were shackled and given only bread and water during a 16-hour journey on a U.S. military cargo plane. They claim they were roused from a detention facility in Alexandria, Louisiana, in the middle of the night on September 5 and were not informed of their destination until hours into the flight.
Named as defendants in the suit are the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, the Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Attorney General, and the Secretary of State.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs argue that the deportation violated both U.S. immigration law and international agreements, noting that immigration judges had previously granted the deportees protection under the Immigration and Nationality Act and the Convention Against Torture.
“Defendants know that they may not, consistent with U.S. immigration law, directly deport non-citizens to countries from which they have been granted fear-based protection,” the suit states. “As an end-run around this prohibition, Defendants have enlisted the government of Ghana to do their dirty work.”
The plaintiffs are asking U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to order their return to the United States.
Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama recently confirmed that his government had agreed to accept 14 deportees from the U.S., with some expected to be repatriated to their countries of origin.
The case comes amid former President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement policies, which targeted undocumented migrants, visa overstayers, and what he described as “criminal aliens.”
