A US Federal Judge has sharply criticised the Trump administration for deporting Nigerian and Gambian migrants to Ghana, raising concerns that the move sidestepped legal protections.
District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, sitting in Washington, DC, issued the remarks on Saturday after lawyers argued that their clients faced the risk of torture or persecution if returned to their home countries.
Chutkan directed the government to provide a sworn statement explaining what safeguards were in place to prevent the migrants’ transfer from Ghana to Nigeria or Gambia.
Chutkan describesTrump’s action as questionable
Calling the arrangement questionable, she remarked that the deal appeared to be an “end run” around US laws that prohibit deportations likely to expose people to harm. “I have not been shy about saying that I think this is a very suspicious scheme,” she said, according to The New York Times.
The judge added that the administration seemed to have intentionally bypassed immigration rules when carrying out the removals. However, she declined to rule in the migrants’ favour, explaining that “there’s no point in getting decisions from me that are immediately going to be stayed” by the Supreme Court.
The case stems from a lawsuit filed Friday by five migrants who said they were shackled at a Louisiana detention centre, placed on a US military aircraft, and deported without being told where they were headed.
