September 18, 2025
A federal judge has sympathy for the five West African men deported to Ghana but says she lacks the authority to ensure their return.
A U.S. federal judge is “alarmed and dismayed” over the deportation of five West African men to Ghana, where they could face torture or death, but that her “hands are tied.”
On Sept. 15, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan expressed concern over the West African immigrants deported by the Trump administration, despite having protections from U.S. immigration courts, Politico reports. Chutkan said she cannot help the men because they are now under the custody of the Ghanaian government.
“The court does not reach this conclusion lightly. It is aware of the dire consequences Plaintiffs face if they are repatriated,” wrote Chutkan, an Obama appointee. “And it is alarmed and dismayed by the circumstances under which these removals are being carried out, especially in light of the government’s cavalier acceptance of Plaintiffs’ ultimate transfer to countries where they face torture and persecution.”
Chutkan’s ruling comes days after the detained men went through intense litigation after being abruptly deported to Ghana earlier this month under a private agreement between the Trump administration and the Ghanaian government. Four of the men remain in a Ghanaian prison awaiting transfer to Nigeria or The Gambia.
The men’s attorneys say that upon arrival in Ghana, their clients were informed they would soon be transferred to their home countries, despite having secured protections from U.S. immigration courts due to fears of persecution or torture. The men allege that the Trump administration used Ghana to bypass these protections and had hoped Chutkan could compel the administration to reveal details of its arrangement in hopes of securing their return.
However, because the men are in Ghanaian custody, U.S. judges have little power to offer relief, as they cannot direct U.S. foreign policy or compel the Ghanaian government to act. Chutkan stated that the Trump administration’s late-night deportation of the five men to Ghana “may have been designed to evade” the court-ordered safeguards under the Convention Against Torture.
“For over three decades, through five presidential administrations, this country has adhered to its obligations to treat refugees humanely and to comply with the Constitutional requirement of due process, which is afforded to all persons present in this country, regardless of their citizenship status,” Chutkan wrote. “In recent months, the government has embarked upon a series of deportations which signal a drastic change of course.”
“In several cases, authorities have rounded up—often at night and with little or no notice—men, women, and children being held in detention facilities, hastily put them on planes and transferred them to other countries, where they have no connections, do not speak the language, and are unable to contact family or counsel,” the judge continued.
Hundreds of Guatemalan children faced deportation over Labor Day weekend, until a judge stepped in.
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