A United State’s federal judge has criticised the Trump administration over its decision to deport Nigerian and Gambian migrants to Ghana.
District Court Judge, Tanya Chutkan in Washington, DC, raised concerns on Saturday after lawyers for some of the migrants argued that their clients could face torture or persecution if sent back to their home countries.
She ordered the US government to provide a sworn statement explaining the safeguards in place to prevent Ghana from sending the migrants back to Nigeria or Gambia.
Chutkan described the arrangement as an “end run” around US immigration law, which bans deportations that could expose migrants to harm.
“I have not been shy about saying that I think this is a very suspicious scheme,” The New York Times quoted her as saying.
She added that the Trump administration seemed to have intentionally bypassed immigration rules when it deported the migrants.
However, Chutkan declined to rule in favour of the migrants, saying: “There’s no point in getting decisions from me that are immediately going to be stayed” by the Supreme Court.
A lawsuit filed on Friday by five migrants claimed they were moved from a detention centre in Louisiana, shackled, and placed on a US military plane without being told where they were going.
The case, backed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Asian Americans Advancing Justice, argued that the migrants had legal protections against deportation to Nigeria and Gambia.
The US Department of Justice responded that it no longer had custody of the migrants and said the court lacked authority over diplomatic decisions. It also cited a Supreme Court ruling that allows the government to deport people to countries other than their own.
Ghana’s President John Mahama recently confirmed that his country had reached a deal with the US to accept deported West Africans. He said 14 migrants had already arrived in Ghana.
