A pregnant mother from Ghana entered the U.S. on a tourist visa to get her 4-year-old son to a medical appointment at Akron Children’s Hospital, but they never made it.
Instead, they sat in a windowless room for over a week after immigration agents detained Anabella Gyasi, 38, and her son on May 19 in Washington Dulles International Airport, the American Civil Liberties Union said in a news release issued on May 27.
Federal judge Leonie Brinkema has now ordered that they are “not to spend another night at Dulles Airport,” writing that the family must board an overnight flight to Ghana without receiving the medical care they sought.
Because this is an expedited removal, Gyasi and her son will not be allowed in the U.S. for five years unless a waiver is approved, a spokesperson for the ACLU said.
“Ms. Gyasi’s health and the viability of her pregnancy have both been endangered for more than a week as a result of the Trump administration’s dangerous and unlawful detention practices, and she is just one of a growing number of pregnant people who’ve been detained in the wake of President Trump’s executive order trying to end birthright citizenship,” said Mary Bauer, Executive Director of the ACLU Virginia branch. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security denied these allegations.
All this comes after the ACLU had sought their release through an emergency petition filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
The ALCU accused Customs and Border Patrol of failing to provide adequate food and medical care, which put the lives of Gyasi, her son and her unborn child at risk.
“These allegations are false. Everyone in (Customs and Border Protection) custody, including this individual, has access to appropriate care, including medical evaluation by a doctor, medication, and food,” the spokesperson wrote in an email. “The individual is currently in CBP custody at Washington Dulles International Airport and will remain in custody pending her immigration hearing.”
The ACLU was not available for additional comment.
An oral argument in the case was scheduled for 10 a.m. May 29.
Why were they detained?
Gyasi’s son was born with a physical disability affecting the use of his hands, so they sought corrective surgery in the U.S., the ACLU explained in court filings. They first entered the U.S. about two years ago on a tourist visa, but medical specialists told Gyasi her son was too young. So, they returned home.
When they recently landed in the U.S. on May 19, federal Customs and Border Protection officers asked if she feared persecution in her home nation.
She responded yes, citing her son’s disability. CBP then revoked her tourist visa, classifying her as an asylum applicant.
“If she hadn’t answered that question honestly, she would have been well on her way to her child’s doctor’s appointment,” attorney Eden Heilman told the Washington Post. Heilman and attorney Sophia Gregg represent Gyasi.
The CBP said Gyasi “admitted under oath that she came to the United States in order to seek asylum and her intent was not to leave the United States to return to Ghana,” according to court documents.
Immigration agents determined she lacked credible fear of persecution, which an immigration judge affirmed on May 27, Brinkema wrote in a court order.
Brinkema also ordered on May 26 that Gyasi and her son should not be removed from their jurisdiction, other than to travel to Akron for her son’s medical appointment.
ACLU describes food in exchange for signing a deportation order
Gyasi, who is about 17 weeks pregnant, and her son were placed in a windowless work area-turned cell with one bed, a toilet and a sink, their attorneys alleged, noting they received no medical screenings before detention.
Two days after they were detained, Gyasi was hospitalized for lightheadedness and dizziness. Medical staff confirmed her pregnancy and noted she had high blood pressure.
“They were concerned she was not eating enough and fed her. They even gave her food to take back with her,” the complaint read.
She was later hospitalized for vaginal bleeding, which doctors attributed to high stress. She was given bleeding and blood pressure medication.
She repeatedly asked and begged for food. Her son spent May 23 crying from hunger pain, attorneys said.
Gyasi eventually told officers that she would rather be deported than go hungry and lose her unborn child. Her attorneys allege that’s when officers gave her a deportation order to sign, which she did.
The next day, they offered her “whatever food she wanted” and her first shower.
Despite signing the deportation order, Gyasi’s attorneys say she does not want to be deported. She “had agreed to be deported out of desperation for the health and well-being of (her son) and her unborn child.”
Bryce Buyakie is an Akron-based reporter who covers the courts and public safety for the Beacon Journal. He can be reached by email at bbuyakie@gannett.com or on X @bryce_buyakie.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Mom from Ghana seeking medical care for son in Akron to be deported
Reporting by Bryce Buyakie, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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