Judge orders deportation of Ghanaian mother and son

A pregnant woman from Ghana and her four-year-old son, who were detained for more than a week at Washington Dulles International Airport after arriving on tourist visas, have been ordered deported and are returning to their home country. The decision followed an emergency federal court hearing Friday that addressed their prolonged detention in a windowless airport holding room.

Annabella Gyasi, 38, arrived at the airport on May 19 with her son, who was born with severely malformed hands. They were traveling on valid visas for a scheduled medical appointment at Akron Children’s Hospital in Ohio to evaluate the boy for possible corrective surgery, according to court documents filed by her legal team from the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia. The family had made a similar trip in 2024 but returned to Ghana after doctors said the child was too young for surgery at that time.

Instead of continuing their journey, Gyasi and her son were detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers. The detention occurred after Gyasi, who is more than four months pregnant, expressed a fear of returning to Ghana due to persecution she and her son had faced, her lawyers said....