Washington (BN24) – A federal judge on Saturday ordered the Trump administration to explain how it is ensuring that African immigrants sent to Ghana are not being deported onward to countries where they could face torture or death, calling the government’s actions an apparent attempt to sidestep U.S. court orders.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said the administration appeared to be making “an end run” around existing prohibitions by first relocating five immigrants to Ghana, which was positioned to transfer them to their native countries despite judicial rulings blocking such removals. One of the plaintiffs, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, has already been deported from Ghana to Gambia, a nation where a U.S. court determined he could not be sent.
Judge Chutkan pressed the administration for clarity, issuing an order requiring officials to file by Saturday night a detailed explanation of how they are preventing Ghana from carrying out further deportations in violation of U.S. law. “What does the government intend to do? And please don’t tell me you don’t have any control over Ghana because I know that,” Chutkan told Justice Department attorneys in court.
During the proceedings, Elianis Perez of the Department of Justice conceded that she previously told Chutkan that Ghana had assured U.S. officials it would not deport the immigrants elsewhere. But Perez argued the United States has no legal power over how another sovereign nation treats deportees. She also noted that a Supreme Court ruling earlier this summer allowed the administration to transfer immigrants to third countries, even if those immigrants had not yet presented claims of torture.
Lee Gelernt of the ACLU challenged the government’s stance, comparing the situation to the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who had been wrongfully deported to El Salvador despite a court order preventing his removal. The administration later contended it was unable to bring him back, but after a series of court directives, Abrego Garcia returned to the United States. He is now contesting new deportation efforts while facing separate human trafficking charges.
Chutkan said the similarities between the two cases reinforced her concern that the government was deliberately bypassing court restrictions. She emphasized that the administration must show in detail how it is ensuring the remaining plaintiffs are not unlawfully sent to countries where their lives are at risk. Her order gave the administration until 9 p.m. Eastern time to file a sworn declaration outlining its compliance measures.
