Overview

• U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled she lacks jurisdiction to stop the transfer of West African men sent to Ghana, writing she was “alarmed and dismayed” and that the process appears to sidestep anti-torture protections.
• Ghana’s government said all 14 deportees — 13 Nigerians and one Gambian — have been sent to their home countries, while lawyers told the court four clients remain detained in Ghana and one has already been repatriated to The Gambia.
• A federal lawsuit by four West African migrants, backed by Asian Americans Advancing Justice and joined by the ACLU, alleges secretive transfers, 16-hour restraints in straitjackets, scant food and water, and squalid detention conditions.
• The administration has expanded third-country removals after a summer Supreme Court ruling, with earlier transfers involving South Sudan and Eswatini and arrangements reported with Rwanda and Uganda.
• Ghana defended its role as a humanitarian step and denied receiving compensation, while Nigeria said it was not briefed; Justice Department lawyers argued U.S. courts cannot direct Ghana’s actions, and litigation continues.