Three Nigerians recently deported from the United States and abandoned in Ghana have filed a lawsuit in Washington D.C., accusing American authorities of inhumane treatment and unlawful deportation practices.
The suit, filed on Friday at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, was lodged on their behalf by the Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC). Two Gambian nationals deported on the same flight joined the case.
The plaintiffs, identified only by their initials — D.A., T.L., I.O., D.S., and K.S. — claimed they were shackled and given only bread and water during the 16-hour journey aboard a U.S. military cargo plane. They alleged they were abruptly woken up in the middle of the night on September 5 at a detention center in Alexandria, Louisiana, and were not informed of their destination until hours into the flight.
Defendants in the case include the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, the Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Attorney General, and the Secretary of State.
According to their attorneys, the deportation violated U.S. immigration law and international agreements. Immigration judges had previously granted the plaintiffs protection from being returned to their home countries 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 lawyers argued. “As an end-run around this prohibition, Defendants have enlisted the government of Ghana to do their dirty work.”
The plaintiffs are asking Judge Tanya Chutkan to order their return to the United States.
Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama recently confirmed that his government struck a deal with Washington to accept 14 deportees, some of whom would later be repatriated to their countries of origin.
The lawsuit comes amid a sweeping crackdown on immigration by President Donald Trump, who has consistently described deported individuals as criminals and “aliens” from nations with high visa overstay rates.