#US #CBP officers asked her if she feared persecution in her home country, said Eden Heilman, the legal director of the #ACLU’s Virginia branch. Gyasi answered that she did because of her son’s #disability. CBP then classified her as an #asylum applicant & moved to nullify her #tourist #visa, Heilman said.

#Trump #law #immigration #TheCrueltyIsThePoint #HumanRights #HumanitarianLaw #InternationalLaw

“If she hadn’t answered that question honestly, she would have been well on her way to her child’s doctor’s appointment,” Heilman said.

The #State Dept last month instructed diplomatic missions to ask applicants for nonimmigrant visas if they fear returning home to their country, & to REFUSE travel documents for those who say yes. It was unclear whether that policy was related to Gyasi’s #detention.

#Trump #law #immigration #TheCrueltyIsThePoint #HumanRights #HumanitarianLaw #InternationalLaw

#CBP is holding Gyasi & her son in a windowless holding room, acc/to the #ACLU. The pair’s attys allege that Gyasi & her son are being held in a work area converted into a cell with a single bed, a toilet & a sink.

Gyasi has been taken to a #hospital twice for #medical issues while in custody…. On Friday, Gyasi felt lightheaded & was examined at a local hospital, where medical staff expressed concern that she was not being fed enough[‼️], acc/to the court filing.

#Trump #law #immigration

The #ACLU filed an emergency petition in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Tuesday calling for Gyasi & her son to be released so they can seek #medical care.

“Ms. Gyasi secured the necessary visas for her son’s medical appointment, & by detaining them in dangerous conditions anyway, #CBP is breaking the #law & putting the #Trump administration’s cruel anti-immigrant agenda before basic human dignity & the #Constitution,” ACLU atty Dorna Maryam Movasseghi said.

The #ACLU alleges that Gyasi told #CBP officers she preferred to be deported because she fears remaining in #detention could result in her losing her unborn child [pro-life admin my tuchus]. After agreeing to leave “voluntarily”, CBP officers allowed her to request additional food & let her shower for the first time since she was detained, the lawyers claim.

#Trump #law #immigration #TheCrueltyIsThePoint #HumanRights #HumanitarianLaw #InternationalLaw

“#CBP has put Ms. Gyasi in an impossible position: either risk her own & the life of her unborn child to improve her young son’s life, or return home to ensure safe conditions for her pregnancy but unsafe conditions for her son,” Heilman said in the organization’s news release.

Tens of thousands of immigrants have abandoned #asylum claims & agreed to “voluntarily” depart the US rather than face long stints in #immigration #detention….

#Trump #law #TheCrueltyIsThePoint #HumanRights

On Monday, Gyasi backtracked and said she did not wish to “self-deport”, according to Heilman. That day, Gyasi experienced vaginal bleeding & was again taken to a hospital, where doctors said her condition was caused by high stress, the court filing states.

A judge on Wednesday ordered federal officials to show a legal basis for Gyasi’s #detention by 9 a.m. Thursday.

#Trump #law #immigration #TheCrueltyIsThePoint #HumanRights #HumanitarianLaw #InternationalLaw

#Update

#Pregnant woman & son will return home to #Ghana after being detained for over a week at Dulles Airport, judge says

[Why not allow them to see the doctor they came to see?]

#Trump #law #immigration #TheCrueltyIsThePoint #HumanRights #HumanitarianLaw #InternationalLaw
cnn.com/2026/05/29/us/ghana-wo…