Ghana says 14 people deported from U.S. sent to Nigeria, Gambia

A group of 14 West Africans deported from the US to Ghana have all been sent to their home countries of Nigeria and Gambia, a Ghanaian government spokesman said on Monday.

The 13 Nigerians and one Gambian have left for their home countries.

Authorities in Ghana defended accepting the deportees on humanitarian grounds.

Ghana’s Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa pushed back on criticism that the decision was an endorsement of US President Donald Trump’s migration policies, saying Ghana accepted the third-country deportees “purely on humanitarian grounds.”

At a press briefing in the capital, Accra on Monday, Ablakwa said Ghana did not receive any financial compensation from the US over the deportation.

“We should rather be seen as a country that wants to look out for its fellow Africans, that is why we made it clear to the Americans that we will not accept $1,” the minister said of the rationale behind the government's decision.

Nigeria's government said it was not briefed about its nationals being sent to Ghana and that previously it had received Nigerians deported directly from the US.

Officials have pushed back on criticism of the deportation whose legality has been questioned by lawyers of the deportees.

"We believe that the plaintiff's deportations to Ghana did not comply with principles of due process. These people were not told where they were going to be taken," said Samantha Hamilton, the attorney for the deported migrants.

The authorities in Gambia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Lawyers contradict Ghana's authorities

Lawyers for four of 14 West African men deported by the U.S. to Ghana said Monday the men remained in that third country and had not been returned to their homes, contradicting an earlier statement by a Ghana official who said they have all been.

The lawyers, in a court filing, said the men’s situation remained precarious but they had not been sent to their home countries, where they argue some could face persecution or torture.

The confusion surrounding the case reflected the dizzying pace at which the Trump administration has moved ahead with its immigration priorities, which lawyers say has come at the cost of immigrants' legal rights and sometimes puts their safety at risk.