Deported Texas father says Ghana sent him on to Mali despite a judge's ruling
Editorial illustration — Press Pass USAA Texas father deported to Ghana in July says Ghanaian officials then forced him onto a flight to Mali — a country a U.S. immigration judge had ruled he could not be sent to because he would likely face persecution there, CBS News' 60 Minutes reported Sunday. Immigration authorities pushed back sharply on the program's account on Monday.
Moussa Diawara, 57, had lived in the United States for 25 years, CBS reported. He arrived on a tourist visa at age 32, married, had two U.S.-citizen children, worked and paid taxes, and, according to the program, had no criminal record. He told 60 Minutes he was finishing a night shift as an Uber driver when immigration agents detained him at his home near Houston on July 11.
Diawara had sought refugee protection arguing he would be persecuted in Mali after converting to Christianity, CBS reported. In 2012, an immigration judge ruled he could be deported, but not to Mali — a form of protection known as withholding of removal. That ruling did not bar removal to a safe third country, and on July 31 he was flown to Ghana, a country where, CBS said, he had no ties.
Within days of arriving in Ghana, Diawara told the program, he and other deportees were held in a hotel by armed guards and then put on a flight to Mali. “I still say to myself, ‘This isn't real,'” he said. He said he later escaped to another country with help from local truckers and is now in hiding because he fears for his safety.
The program said that of 19 people deported to Ghana it was able to reach, 17 said they were later sent against their will to countries judges had ruled they should not be returned to. The Department of Homeland Security's top lawyer, James Percival, told 60 Minutes: “Well, he wasn't flown to Mali. He was flown to Ghana, but I can't speak to why that piece of paper says that.” Ghana's government declined to comment, according to CBS.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement responded on social media Monday, disputing the program's description of Diawara as a “Texas father” and saying he is a Malian national with a final order of removal. The agency said he had claimed to be homosexual to avoid deportation despite having a wife and two children, and questioned why the program had not asked him about that allegation. CBS has reported that the administration has deported about 25,000 people to third countries as part of its mass-deportation operation.
The dispute turns on a distinction at the heart of the case: the 2012 ruling barred Diawara's removal to Mali specifically, while the government says it lawfully removed him to Ghana. What happened after he reached Ghana — and who was responsible for his onward journey to Mali — remains contested between Diawara's account, the government's statements and Ghana's silence.
Sources: CBS News / 60 Minutes (Oct 25, 2026); U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement statement (Oct 26, 2026); Department of Homeland Security comments to 60 Minutes.
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