Rights group files suit against Ghana's acceptance of US deportees
Source: Politico/AP
10/14/2025 09:55 PM EDT
ACCRA, Ghana — A group of 14 people have become the latest West Africans deported from the U.S. to Ghana under an accord between the countries, said a lawyer whose group filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to block the arrangement. Oliver Barker-Vormawor, who represents migrants, said the latest group of 14 West African nationals arrived Monday to bring the overall total to 42 deportees accepted by the Ghanaian government.
His group, Democracy Hub, filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Ghana ‘s government, alleging that the agreement with Washington is unconstitutional because it wasn’t approved by the Ghanaian parliament and that it may violate conventions that forbid sending people to countries where they could face persecution. Government spokesman Felix Kwakye Ofosu said the attorney general would defend the arrangement in court, but otherwise declined to comment.
The administration of President Donald Trump has been cracking down on migrants who have entered the country illegally, saying that it is especially targeting those with criminal records, including those who cannot easily be deported to their home countries. Dozens of deportees have been sent to Africa since July after the Trump administration struck largely secretive agreements with at least five African nations to take migrants under a new third-country deportation program.
Rights groups have protested the program, saying it is opaque and sends deportees to countries where they have no ties and where they are likely to be denied due process. In some cases, migrants have been deported to third countries even when their home countries would have accepted them, critics say.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/14/ghana-rights-group-deportations-trump-00608792
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