Houston Father Deported to Ghana Says He Was Then Sent to Mali, the Country a US Judge Barred; DHS Calls Paperwork a Clerical Error

Moussa Diawara, 57, a Houston-area Uber driver who lived in the United States for more than two decades, says Ghanaian officials sent him on to Mali within days of his July 31 deportation to Ghana — despite a 2012 immigration judge's ruling that he could not be deported to Mali because he would likely face persecution there, CBS's 60 Minutes reported on October 25. The Department of Homeland Security said Diawara was flown to Ghana, called bag tags listing Mali a contractor product and a medication form listing Mali a clerical error, and pushed back against the broadcast. His attorney is asking a federal judge to bring him back to his wife and two U.S. citizen children in Texas, according to reporting on his case.

Awaaz Punjab Investigations Desk26 October 20264 min readRead in all 3 languages

Moussa Diawara, 57, from Mali, lived in the United States for more than two decades after arriving on a tourist visa at 32, according to CBS's 60 Minutes, which aired its investigation into third-country deportations on Sunday, October 25. Diawara later sought refugee protection, saying he would face persecution if returned to Mali, and in 2012 a U.S. immigration judge ruled he could not be deported to Mali, while allowing the United States to remove him to a safe alternative country if it chose. He received a work permit and worked as an Uber driver in suburban Houston, where he lived with his wife and their two U.S. citizen children. He has no criminal record, according to the broadcast.

Source: CBS 60 Minutes transcript

Diawara said immigration agents were waiting at his home on July 11 as he finished a night shift, and that he then spent three weeks in ICE detention in Texas without speaking to his lawyer or a judge — his account, as reported by 60 Minutes. On July 31 he was deported to Ghana, a country he said he had never visited and had no ties to. He said he and other deportees were held in a hotel by armed guards in Ghana and could not call family or lawyers, and that Ghanaian officials then sent him to Mali within days, leaving him without money or identification. He said he was homeless and in hiding in Mali for weeks before escaping to another country with help from truckers; he asked that that country not be named because he fears for his safety.

Source: Focal News

On the broadcast, Diawara showed DHS-issued bag tags and a medication form that listed Mali as the destination. DHS's top lawyer, James Percival, told 60 Minutes that Diawara was flown to Ghana and said he could not explain why the paperwork listed Mali. After the interview, DHS said in a statement that the bag tags were produced by contractors who are not part of the process that determines the destination, and that the medication form was a clerical error. Ghana's government declined to comment, according to the broadcast.

After the program aired, Immigration and Customs Enforcement pushed back on X against the 60 Minutes report, accusing it of leaving out key details about Diawara's immigration case, according to reporting on the agency's response. DHS has also maintained that Ghana provided diplomatic assurances regarding safety and has questioned the credibility of Diawara's fear of persecution — claims Diawara and his supporters dispute.

Source: MEAWW

Diawara's attorney is asking a federal judge to bring him back to his family in Texas, according to reporting on his case. The case has become a prominent test of the administration's third-country deportation program, under which people are removed to countries other than their own — and, Diawara alleges, in his case onward to the very country a judge had ruled off limits. That onward transfer is his allegation, supported by the paperwork shown on the broadcast; DHS says he was flown only to Ghana.

Sources