Their lawyer, Oliver-Barker Vormawor, told the BBC that the deportees had not broken any Ghanaian law and should not be held against their will. He said the government must present them in court and explain the legal basis for their detention.
The Ghanaian authorities have not yet responded to the lawsuit. However, the government has previously announced plans to accept another 40 deportees under an arrangement with the US. Opposition MPs are calling for an immediate suspension of the deal until it is ratified by parliament, as required by Ghanaian law.
President John Mahama stated last week that 14 West African deportees had arrived in Ghana following the agreement with Washington and that all had since been returned to their countries of origin.
But Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa contradicted him, saying only “most” had been repatriated. Vormawor’s court filing disputes both claims, insisting that 11 deportees remain in detention inside Ghana.
According to court documents, the deportees were previously held in a US detention facility before being shackled and transported on a US military cargo aircraft to Ghana
The deportations form part of the Trump administration’s hard-line stance on immigration. President Trump pledged record-level removals of undocumented migrants shortly after taking office in January.
Ghana’s foreign minister defended his country’s acceptance of the deportees, saying it was guided by “humanitarian principle and pan-African empathy”. He stressed that the move should not be seen as Ghana endorsing US immigration policies.
Meanwhile, five other detainees three Nigerians and two Gambians have separately sued the US government, claiming they were protected by a court order and should never have been deported.
