A pregnant woman from Ghana and her young son who spent more than a week in a windowless detention room at a Washington airport have been ordered deported and are flying back to Africa, her lawyers said Friday.
Annabella Gyasi, 38, arrived May 19 at Washington Dulles International Airport ahead of a medical appointment for her son, who was born with severely malformed hands, according to a petition filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia.
Both were traveling on valid visas, but they were detained by immigration officers after Gyasi said they had faced persecution in Ghana and feared returning, the lawyers said.
After days in detention and two hospitalizations for pregnancy complications, including vaginal bleeding and high blood pressure, Gyasi felt she had no choice but to agree to leave the U.S., they said.
“While we’re relieved that Ms. Gyasi and her son will soon be free from this nightmare, no one should be subjected to the inhumane conditions they endured,” ACLU Virginia Executive Director Mary Bauer said in a statement.
Gyasi had repeatedly told guards that she and her son were hungry but were not given additional food, according to her lawyers. The Department of Homeland Security denied that, saying everyone in custody “has access to appropriate care, including medical evaluation by a doctor, medication, and food.”
A Friday order by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema said that “the welfare of the petitioners and the interests of justice are best served by allowing petitioners to return home immediately.”
An earlier order from Brinkema quoted immigration officials as saying Gyasi’s tourist visas were not valid because she had told them that she came to the U.S. to seek asylum and didn't plan to return home.
Gyasi and her son were expected to leave for Ghana on Friday evening.
FILE - Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Federal Air Marshals, patrol around Washington Dulles International Airport, in Chantilly, Va., Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce,File)
FILE - Dulles International Airport is seen on Friday, Feb. 6, 2026, in Dulles, Va. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert,File)
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill is sending in state police to bring order outside an immigration detention center in Newark that has been the site of violent demonstrations and arrests in recent days.
The Democrat announced Friday that police will create designated protest zones and set up vehicle checkpoints to regulate traffic outside Delaney Hall. She said the decision comes as clashes between protesters and federal immigration enforcement officials have intensified.
“It has grown unsafe, and that’s completely unacceptable,” Sherrill said at a news conference along with the state attorney general and state police leaders. “Our top priority is public safety, and we need to take this opportunity to lower the temperature.”
Spokespersons for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the GEO Group, the private firm that runs the facility, didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
The protests began last Friday after immigrant advocates said detainees inside launched a hunger strike over poor living conditions at the 1,000-bed facility, which opened last May.
Demonstrators have been attempting to block people and vehicles from entering and exiting the building in recent days. They have linked arms in a human chain and used trash cans, umbrellas and other materials as makeshift shields and barricades.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in helmets and tactical vests have used pepper spray and batons to try and disperse the protesters and clear the roadway for vehicles.
At least six demonstrators were arrested for assaulting law enforcement officers Wednesday night, and more have been arrested on other nights of the protests, DHS has said.
With state police taking over public safety responsibilities outside Delaney Hall, ICE officers currently lining the entry have agreed to stand down, according to State Police Lt. Col. David Sierotowicz.
In addition to the protest zones, police will also be setting up vehicle checkpoints to regulate traffic and assure safe passage, he said.
“We want everyone to have the right to peacefully assemble, and to exercise their constitutionally protected rights,” Sierotowicz said.
State Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said it is important to “de-escalate the situation” sooner than later.
“Let me make this clear: violence, either against protesters or by protesters, is unacceptable,” she said. “It is not who we are.”
Sherril stressed that she doesn't want to give ICE “pretext” to expand operations in the state by letting things get out of hand.
“We know what ICE has done in other states, and we know American citizens lost their lives, and I refuse to let that happen in New Jersey,” the governor said. “We all need to do everything we can to cool things down now.”
Sherrill was among a group of Democratic officials who tried to visit detainees on Monday but were denied entry.
Democratic members of Congress from New York City, however, were able to tour Delaney Hall on Tuesday and described dire conditions where detainees are fed small portions of often spoiled food and their varied medical needs are ignored.
The families of detainees and their supporters say their loved ones have also been subjected to pepper spray and physical force in retaliation for their hunger strike and the protests outside.
FILE - New Jersey Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill talks to reporters during a news conference, in Trenton, N.J., Nov. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
A federal immigration officer aims an OC canister at protesters outside Delaney Hall detention center Thursday, May 28, 2026, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)
Protesters confront federal immigration officers outside Delaney Hall detention center Thursday, May 28, 2026, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)
Protesters confront federal immigration officers outside Delaney Hall detention center Thursday, May 28, 2026, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)
Federal immigration officers pepper spray protesters outside Delaney Hall detention center Thursday, May 28, 2026, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)
A federal immigration officer pulls the respirator mask from a protester outside Delaney Hall detention center Thursday, May 28, 2026, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)
