U.S. Judge Raises Concerns Over Deportation of Nigerians and Gambians to Ghana

A U.S. federal judge has sharply criticized the Trump administration for deporting Nigerian and Gambian migrants to Ghana, raising serious concerns over potential violations of immigration law and human rights protections.

District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, sitting in Washington, D.C., expressed skepticism over the legality and ethics of the deportation arrangement during a hearing on Saturday. Lawyers representing several of the deported migrants argued that their clients risk torture or persecution if returned to their home countries.

Judge Chutkan responded by ordering the U.S. government to submit a sworn statement outlining the measures in place to ensure that Ghana would not subsequently send the migrants back to Nigeria or Gambia.

Calling the deportation strategy an “end run” around U.S. immigration laws—which prohibit removals that may expose individuals to harm—Chutkan questioned the motivations behind the arrangement.

“I have not been shy about saying that I think this is a very suspicious scheme,” she said, according to The New York Times.

She further suggested that the Trump administration may have intentionally circumvented legal safeguards meant to protect vulnerable migrants.

Despite her concerns, Judge Chutkan stopped short of issuing a ruling in favor of the migrants, noting that such a decision would likely be immediately challenged and possibly stayed by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The case stems from a lawsuit filed on Friday by five migrants who allege they were abruptly removed from a detention center in Louisiana, shackled, and placed on a U.S. military aircraft—without being informed of their destination.

The suit, supported by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Asian Americans Advancing Justice, claims that the migrants are entitled to legal protection from deportation to Nigeria and Gambia due to the risks they face there.

The U.S. Department of Justice, in its response, argued that the migrants are no longer in U.S. custody and therefore fall outside the court’s jurisdiction. It also pointed to a Supreme Court precedent that permits deportation to third countries under certain conditions.

Meanwhile, Ghanaian President John Mahama recently confirmed that his country had entered into an agreement with the U.S. to receive deported West Africans, revealing that 14 migrants had already arrived in Ghana under the arrangement.

The case continues to draw attention to the complexities and controversies surrounding U.S. immigration policy, especially when international agreements are involved and the safety of migrants may be at stake.