Ghana faces Ecowas court complaint on US deportations
Publish date: 06 July 2026
Issue Number: 1184
Diary: IBA Legalbrief Africa
Category: Immigration
Advocacy groups have filed a complaint on behalf of people deported from the US to Ghana by the Trump administration with the regional bloc representing West Africa. US News reports that the complaint, known as an application for a case, was filed against Ghana before the Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) on behalf of 27 deportees. At least 60 people were deported to Ghana in total starting in September 2025, in what the Trump administration describes as a strategy ‘to end illegal and mass immigration and bolster America’s border security’. The complaint said the deportees told authorities they had been granted protections in the US but most of them were removed within hours or days of their arrival in Ghana to the countries they had escaped. Some were stranded in third countries with no means to continue their journeys. Reuters could not immediately reach spokespeople at Ecowas and the Government of Ghana for comment.
