A man who spent nearly half his life building a home in Texas, shielded from return to Mali by a judge's long-standing decision, was instead carried across the world through Ghana and dropped into the very country he was meant never to reach. His story sits where a nation's promises of protection meet the quiet machinery of third-country removals, a question of whether a government's written word still holds once a person disappears into a flight manifest. The answers remain contested, and a family in Houston waits, as families have always waited, for the law to find its way back to them.
Texas Father Deported to Ghana Says He Was Then Forced Onto a Flight to Mali, Despite a U.S. Court Order
Diawara, a father of two U.S. citizen children, was held in ICE detention, deported to Ghana, forced toward Mali, and spent weeks homeless and hiding there.
"It feels really empty without him," said his 16-year-old son.
Mark
Start with the basics. Why is this case different from an ordinary deportation?
Mimi
A judge ruled in 2012 that Diawara couldn't be sent to Mali because he'd likely be persecuted. The government could remove him only somewhere safe. He says Ghana handed him straight to Mali anyway.
Luke
Worth flagging: that last part is his account, though 17 of 19 deportees 60 Minutes reached described similar onward removals. Ghana declined to comment.
Mark
What about the paperwork pointing to Mali?
Mimi
A medical form read "SHRC Mali," and both bag tags listed Mali. DHS says the form was a clerical error and contractors made the tags.
Luke
So the documents exist, but what they prove is disputed. They show Mali was written down, not that anyone intended it. Also, DHS's lawyer says he knows of no cases of Ghana sending people onward against their will.
Mark
DHS also points to dangerous deportees.
Mimi
Percival cited Eswatini and South Sudan accepting people with serious convictions. But on Diawara's flight, 62% had no criminal record.
Luke
And Percival said he didn't know what share of all deportees are violent offenders, so neither side has that full number.
Mark
What happens next?
Mimi
An appeals court found the policy unlawful, but that's paused until a December hearing. Meanwhile Diawara's lawyer wants a D.C. judge to order him returned.
Luke
Nothing is settled. His return depends on that request, and it hasn't been granted.
El Pulso
- A father was seized from his home after a night shift and pulled into a system that moved him faster than his lawyer could reach him.
- Court protection against deportation to Mali collided with a flight plan that listed Mali in black and white on his own bag tags.
- Federal officials call the paperwork a clerical error while a hotel, armed guards, and a forced flight stand as his account.
- A December hearing and a Washington judge now hold the thread of his return, while his wife and children count the empty days.
A man who spent nearly half his life building a home in Texas, shielded from return to Mali by a judge's long-standing decision, was instead carried across the world through Ghana and dropped into the very country he was meant never to reach. His story sits where a nation's promises of protection meet the quiet machinery of third-country removals, a question of whether a government's written word still holds once a person disappears into a flight manifest. The answers remain contested, and a family in Houston waits, as families have always waited, for the law to find its way back to them.
On July 11, Moussa Diawara came home from a night shift driving for Uber to the suburban Houston house he shared with his wife and two children, and ICE agents were waiting. He is 57, has no criminal record, and had lived in the United States for nearly half his life after arriving from Mali on a tourist visa and overstaying it. In 2012, a judge had granted him withholding of removal, meaning he could not be sent back to Mali. He had built a life on that ruling: a marriage, taxes, and two children who are U.S. citizens.
After three weeks in detention, unable to reach his lawyer, he was deported on July 31 to Ghana, a country he had never visited. He says he was held in a hotel under armed guard, denied calls, and within days forced onto a flight to Mali. He was left there with no money or identification, homeless and hiding, until truckers helped him reach another country. He believes the United States knew his destination, pointing to a medical form and two bag tags that named Mali. DHS calls the form a clerical error, says the tags came from contractors, and says Ghana gave assurances about his safety.
His case belongs to a larger pattern. Of 19 deportees to Ghana whom 60 Minutes reached, 17 said they were later sent against their will to countries where judges had ruled they should not be returned. A federal appeals court has ruled the third-country policy unlawful, but that decision is paused until a December hearing. Diawara's lawyer has asked a federal judge in Washington to order his return. At home, his wife Barbara, a nurse, waits with their children. "It feels really empty without him," his son Corey said.
On July 11, Moussa Diawara finished a night shift driving for Uber and came home to the suburban Houston house he shared with his wife and two children. ICE agents were waiting for him. He is 57, has no criminal record, and had lived in the United States for close to half his life.
Diawara is originally from Mali. He arrived on a tourist visa at 32 and overstayed it. He later applied for refugee protection, arguing he would be persecuted if he returned, since he had converted to Christianity and Mali is a Muslim-majority country with an Islamist insurgency. In 2012, a U.S. immigration judge ruled that he could not be deported to Mali, though the government remained free to find a safe alternative if it ever wanted him gone. That kind of ruling is called withholding of removal. It let him get a work permit, and he built a life: marriage, taxes, two U.S. citizen children.
After his arrest, Diawara spent three weeks in ICE detention in Texas, unable to speak with his lawyer or a judge. On July 31 he was deported to Ghana, a country he had never visited. He says that once there, he and others were held in a hotel by armed guards and not allowed phone calls. He told 60 Minutes, "I tell them, 'This is kidnapping,'" and said within days Ghanaian officials forced him onto a flight to Mali. He was dropped there with no money or identification, homeless, and hiding. After several weeks, truckers helped him get to another country, which he asked not be named for his safety.
He believes the U.S. knew where he would end up. A medical document handed to him on the flight listed the destination as "SHRC Mali," shorthand for Special High Risk Charter. Both of his DHS-issued bag tags also named Mali. James Percival, DHS's top lawyer, said Diawara was flown to Ghana and that he could not explain the paper. A DHS spokesperson later called the medication form a clerical error and said the bag tags were produced by contractors who play no part in choosing destinations. DHS says Ghana gave diplomatic assurances about his safety and questioned the credibility of his fear of persecution. Ghana's government declined to comment.
The case is not isolated. ICE has deported 25,000 people to dozens of third countries that receive millions of dollars in aid or other benefits in return. Diawara's flight left Texas on July 30 with 63 people, stopping in Sierra Leone before Ghana. Dozens aboard also held withholding-of-removal protection, 60 Minutes found. Of 19 people it reached who had been deported to Ghana, 17 said they were later sent against their will to countries judges had ruled they should not be returned to, including Niger, Mali, Nigeria, Gambia and Guinea.
Immigration attorney Meredyth Yoon says U.S. officials must know what Ghana does, noting a lawsuit warned the government about its conduct last year, yet 10 more flights followed. She considers it a violation of international law. Percival said he knew of no cases of Ghana sending people onward against their will, suggesting some may choose to go home or that Ghana applied its own procedures. Video released last year showed Ghanaian officials dragging Rabbiatu Kuyateh, a nurse who lived in the U.S. for 30 years and also had withholding protection, onto a flight to Sierra Leone. Senate Foreign Relations Democrats, in a 30-page report commissioned by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, called the program costly and damaging to U.S. interests.
Percival defended the policy, saying it removes dangerous people whose home countries refuse them, and pointed to Eswatini and South Sudan accepting deportees with convictions for crimes such as murder and armed robbery. He did not know what share of deportees were violent offenders. On Diawara's flight, 19% had been charged with or convicted of crimes including theft, assault, drugs or weapons possession; 19% had a traffic violation; and 62% had no criminal record.
Last month a federal appeals court, in a class action, found the third-country policy unlawful because it denied deportees due process, but that ruling is on hold until the court hears the case in December. Diawara's attorney, Reuben S. Kerben, has asked a federal judge in Washington to order his return. In Texas, his wife Barbara, a registered nurse, waits with their children, Corey, 16, and Chloe, 12. "It feels really empty without him," Corey said.
Citas Notables
I tell them, 'This is kidnapping.'— Moussa Diawara
He was flown to Ghana, but I can't speak to why that piece of paper says that.— James Percival, DHS top lawyer
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