Moussa Diawara, a 57-year-old native of Mali who until recently lived in Texas, was deported from the United States to Ghana in July, even though he has no ties to that country. By his account, just a few days later Ghanaian authorities forced him to return to his native Mali, where he was reportedly at risk of reprisals. In 2012, a U.S. immigration judge ruled that Diawara could not be removed to his country of origin because of the risk of persecution.
Moussa Diawara came to the United States at age 32 on a tourist visa. After some time the document expired, and Diawara, now 57, remained in the U.S. illegally.
He started a family in the U.S. He says he worked hard and paid taxes. He also had no criminal record. After converting to Christianity, he sought protection from deportation to Mali, where he feared persecution. The court granted him that protection, while also allowing for the possibility of removal to a safe third country.
That is what happened in July of this year. Early in the month, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained Diawara at his home in Houston. He was then taken to a detention center, and on July 31 he was already on a plane to Africa.
According to Diawara, after arriving in Ghana the deportees were guarded by armed guards and cut off from contact with loved ones and lawyers. He says he was then forced to travel to Mali, where he was left without money or documents.
Journalists from “60 Minutes” found that a medical document given to him by U.S. authorities and two luggage tags in fact listed Mali as his destination. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) responded to the reports, explaining that the entry in the medical records was an “administrative error” and that the luggage markings were prepared by outside contractors. The department also maintains that Ghana provided diplomatic assurances regarding the safety of the deportee.
The “60 Minutes” investigation found that there were 63 people aboard the plane on which Diawara traveled. Of the 19 people deported to Ghana whom the journalists contacted, 17 said they were subsequently sent by force to countries where U.S. immigration court rulings had protected them from being returned. According to the journalists, 25,000 people have so far been sent to third countries (countries the deportees are not from) under the deportation policy of Donald Trump’s administration.
After several weeks in Mali, Diawara reportedly left Mali with the help of local truck drivers. He has not disclosed which country he is in now. His attorney, Reuben S. Kerben, has asked a federal court in Washington to order the authorities to bring the man back to the United States.
Ed. JŁ
