Summary
Deportations to Ghana have moved from a bureaucratic footnote to the center of a fast-moving court fight. In Washington, a federal judge questioned whether U.S. officials used deportations to Ghana as a workaround to send non-Ghanaian migrants back toward danger despite court protections. Recent reporting and filings describe a military charter that flew West Africans to Accra, where some plaintiffs were allegedly held in harsh conditions and one man was then sent on to The Gambia — despite orders meant to prevent exactly that. AP News+1
What triggered the case
The immediate spark was a September flight that delivered more than a dozen West African migrants to Accra. Lawyers say the passengers included men from Gambia and Nigeria, some with fear-based protections or pending cases; they argue the transfer through Accra was an “end-run” around court rulings. AP News+1
At an emergency hearing, the judge asked the government to spell out what it is doing to stop further harm and whether deportations to Ghana are being used to circumvent judicial orders, directing officials to file a sworn declaration detailing safeguards. AP News
Why Ghana — and why now
Ghana is a reliable logistical hub with regular long-haul air links and a government that has cooperated with U.S. removals. But the cooperation has not been linear. In 2019, the United States imposed visa sanctions on Accra for failing to accept enough of its own nationals ordered removed — a tool the law permits when countries do not cooperate on repatriations. Those sanctions later eased as coordination improved. What makes this dispute different is the claim that the United States used Ghana to receive non-Ghanaian nationals, effectively turning Accra into a staging ground for onward removals. U.S. Department of Homeland Security+2FAS Project on Government Secrecy+2
The legal questions in plain English
Several Supreme Court rulings shape what judges can — and cannot — do in emergency removal disputes. Department of Homeland Security v. Thuraissigiam (2020) narrowed federal court review for certain expedited-removal cases near the border. Jennings v. Rodriguez (2018) addressed when prolonged immigration detention requires bond hearings. Garland v. Aleman Gonzalez (2022) limited lower courts’ ability to issue class-wide injunctions halting removals across the board. None of those decisions, however, gives the government a blank check to ignore individualized protections or a judge’s order. The current fight asks whether using a third country as a transfer point can be squared with those protections. Supreme Court+2The Federalist Society+2
Habeas and due process
Even where review is narrowed, courts retain power to hear core habeas claims alleging unlawful detention or government actions that flout statutory limits. If deportations to Ghana are being used to erase a person’s asylum-related protection in practice, a judge can demand an explanation and issue person-specific relief. That is why the court pressed the government for a sworn plan to prevent further harm. AP News
CAT, withholding, and non-refoulement
If a migrant has withholding of removal or protection under the Convention Against Torture, the government cannot send that person to a country where they more likely than not would face persecution or torture. The dispute here is whether the Ghana route is a disguised form of refoulement — not by flying directly to the home country, but by sending someone to Accra and allowing a second government to complete the job. Attorneys have asked the court to halt onward transfers from Ghana while cases are heard. ABC News
Human consequences of a bureaucratic choice
Accounts from Accra describe open-air holding areas, limited shelter, and inadequate sanitation for new arrivals. Lawyers say some deportees were restrained for the 16-hour flight and then held under armed guard; one plaintiff has reportedly been sent onward to The Gambia and is in hiding. Whatever the legal outcome, the Ghana transfers have human stakes: families separated without notice, medical care disrupted, and legal access hampered while people are moved across borders. AP News
The policy backdrop
Successive administrations have struggled to repatriate people when origin countries delay travel documents or refuse flights. The federal government has, at times, leaned on visa sanctions to push for cooperation — the 2019 action against Ghana is a clear example. But that tool was crafted for situations involving a country’s own citizens; it was not designed for the Ghana route being challenged now, which involves non-Ghanaian nationals. As enforcement ramped up in 2025, the temptation to use regional “receiving” countries grew — and with it, the risk of legal overreach. U.S. Department of Homeland Security+1
What the judge is testing
The court’s questions point to four tests that any policy of deportations to Ghana must survive:
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Lawfulness. Can the government show that transfer to a third country complies with the person’s individual protections and with existing court orders?
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Chain of custody. Once delivered to Accra, who is responsible for the person’s safety and legal status, and how are onward deportations policed?
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Notice and process. Were people with pending claims or relief given notice, counsel access, and a chance to challenge deportations to Ghana before they were placed on the plane?
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Verification. What safeguards ensure that Ghana does not send someone onward to a place where they face persecution or torture, contrary to U.S. commitments?
How Supreme Court precedent really matters here
Thuraissigiam limits access to federal court for certain border arrests, but the plaintiffs here already had pending claims or relief and were inside the United States when they were placed on the flight. Jennings does not authorize punitive restraints; it answered when bond hearings are owed, not how people are treated in transit. Aleman Gonzalez restricts broad injunctions but does not bar case-specific orders when the record shows likely illegality. In short, no precedent green-lights deportations to Ghana that undermine individualized protections or court orders. Supreme Court+2The Federalist Society+2
Politics and foreign-policy ripple effects
The Ghana route lands at the intersection of enforcement promises and human-rights obligations. Supporters of tough removal policies argue the government must act when courts slow repatriations. Critics counter that deportations to Ghana outsource risk, harm America’s reputation, and chill cooperation from partners who do not want to be seen as staging posts for refoulement. Ghana itself must balance regional solidarity with the optics of receiving non-nationals from a distant superpower. If the Ghana transfers become a norm, other African governments could face domestic backlash for playing middleman — and the United States could invite copy-cat circumventions by other countries.
What happens next
The judge has demanded sworn detail from the government about safeguards and any arrangements that govern deportations to Ghana. Possible outcomes range from targeted orders to bring individuals back for hearings, to broader prohibitions on using third-country transfers without explicit legal authority. Congress could also weigh in, clarifying limits on third-country removals and directing DHS to report publicly on any agreements that affect non-refoulement obligations. AP News
How to read the numbers and the narratives
Official removal statistics rarely isolate deportations to Ghana as a third-country tactic because flights are logged by departure and custody, not by the ultimate destination after transfer. Watchdogs and litigators fill the gap with affidavits, flight manifests, and on-the-ground interviews in Accra. When those narratives converge — people with protection claims placed on a plane, taken to a country they have never lived in, and then sent on to danger — courts become the only venue capable of forcing transparency and testing legality.
Bottom Line
deportations to Ghana are no longer a line item in a removal ledger; they are a live test of law, policy, and basic decency. If the government can demonstrate clear authority, airtight safeguards, and real oversight, deportations to Ghana might survive judicial scrutiny in limited circumstances. If not, the court could set a precedent that reins in third-country transfers and re-centers due process — not just for five plaintiffs, but for anyone whom a plane ticket through Accra would place in harm’s way.
Further Reading
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AP News — Lawsuit says U.S. held West African migrants in straitjackets for 16 hours on flight to Ghana: https://apnews.com/article/84722f8ac367ab761c4843203ab100a3
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AP News — Judge orders administration to explain how it will prevent illegal deportations via Ghana: https://apnews.com/article/2b1f1573644c98c70a3af50244aaed2f
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Washington Post — Lawsuit says U.S. deported migrants to Ghana to sidestep court protections: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/09/13/ghana-deportation-trump-migrants/
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ABC News — Attorneys ask U.S. judge to prevent removal of migrants held in Ghana: https://abcnews.go.com/US/attorneys-us-judge-prevent-removal-migrants-held-ghana/story?id=125543371
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CBS News — Judge says U.S. trying to do an “end-run” around protections with deportations to Ghana: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/judge-says-u-s-trying-to-do-end-run-around-legal-protections-with-deportations-to-ghana/
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DHS (2019) — Visa sanctions on Ghana for failure to accept removed nationals: https://www.dhs.gov/archive/news/2019/01/31/dhs-announces-implementation-visa-sanctions-ghana
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U.S. Supreme Court — DHS v. Thuraissigiam (2020): https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/19-161_g314.pdf
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U.S. Supreme Court — Garland v. Aleman Gonzalez (2022): https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/20-322_m6hn.pdf
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DHS OIG — Barriers in timely repatriation and use of visa sanctions (2019): https://www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/2019-03/OIG-19-28-Mar19.pdf
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