Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has informed Parliament that 388 Ghanaians have been in detention in the US since January 2025.
Ablakwa revealed that 388 Ghanaians are in detention on immigration-related charges, with 120 awaiting final decision.
According to the Foreign Affairs Minister, 169 Ghanaians have been deported from the U.S. since January 2025, with 120 more awaiting final deportation.
He further clarified that Ghana has not requested any monetary or material support from the U.S. for accepting these deportees.
Speaking on the floor of parliament, Ablakwa stated, “388 Ghanaians have been in detention since January this year on immigration-related charges. Of this number, 120 are awaiting final decisions by the Board of Immigration Appeals. 49 have exhausted all legal processes and await final deportation arrangements.”
“As of today, per the Ministry’s records, 169 Ghanaians have been deported to Ghana since January 2025. Of this number, 90 arrived in Ghana unaccompanied on commercial flights, and 66 on chartered, controlled flights supervised by ICE agents,” the Minister added.
Alabkwa further revealed that Ghana did not ask for a cent before accepting US West African deportees.
According to him, Ghana did not ask the United States for any money or material support in connection with its decision to receive some third-party deportees.
He revealed that Ghana accepted the West African nationals based on humanitarian and Pan-African reasons.
“The government of Ghana has not requested any monetary support, logistical support, any material support for this intervention. The understanding is purely on humanitarian grounds.”
“We are Pan-Africanists. These are fellow West Africans who are in distress, being detained, being treated shabbily, without dignity, and we cannot look on as Kwame Nkrumah’s Ghana,” he told Parliament.
“In any case, under the ECOWAS protocols, West African nationals do not need visas to travel, and in the spirit of regional integration, they can enter Ghana without visas and stay here for at least 90 days. So, Mr Speaker, this decision we made was purely on humanitarian grounds and Pan-African grounds, and we did not ask for a cent from Trump’s America,” he stressed.
Ablakwa further assured, “Mr Speaker, I wish to assure this House that in all matters involving the admission of persons under special circumstances, the requisite security assessments and inter-agency clearances are undertaken by competent authorities.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs proceeds only on the express directives of the President, the collective advice of these agencies, and in full compliance with the procedures governing such engagements,” he said.
Ablakwa further touched on Ghana’s long history of offering refuge on humanitarian grounds, citing refugees from Liberia, Sierra Leone, Lebanon, Côte d’Ivoire and others over the years.
“Ghana has, over the decades, maintained our enviable track record as a bastion of peace and stability despite our friendly and humanitarian posture, which is a vindication of the thorough background checks, security assessments, and safety protocols we have enforced over the years.
“The ministry continues to work closely with the relevant national security and immigration agencies to ensure that all individuals admitted under such arrangements are handled in strict accordance with established procedures and that Ghana’s security and public safety are upheld at all times,” he added.
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Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has informed Parliament that 169 Ghanaians have been deported from the U.S. since January 2025, with 120 more awaiting final deportation.
— #TV3GH (@tv3_ghana) November 20, 2025
He clarified that Ghana has not requested any monetary or material support from the U.S. for… pic.twitter.com/qTxduOmvvP