• A federal judge is questioning the Trump administration's deportation practices targeting West African migrants.
• Judge Tanya Chutkan has ordered the U.S. government to explain its efforts to prevent the deportations to home countries where migrants may face danger.
• At least one deportee from Ghana has already been sent back to Gambia, despite U.S. legal protections against such actions.
• The Trump administration's strategy includes "third country" deportations to expedite removals.

A federal judge in the U.S. has accused the Trump administration of trying to execute an "end run" around protections designed to shield migrants from deportation to countries where they may face persecution or torture. During an emergency hearing, Judge Tanya Chutkan highlighted concerns regarding a group of West African migrants deported to Ghana, where they risk being sent back to Nigeria or Gambia, their home nations, which raises serious safety concerns, according to Reuters and CBS News.

Chutkan mandated the U.S. government to specify its measures intended to prevent further deportations "to their countries of origin or other countries where they fear persecution or torture." During this hearing, attorneys representing the deportees raised urgency regarding the imminent risks, suggesting that at least one migrant has already been returned to Gambia, where he faces severe threats due to his sexual orientation, highlighting flaws in the administration's handling of the situation, as reported by ABC News.

The judge expressed skepticism towards the government's claims that it lacks control over the Ghanaian authorities, indicating that this argument seems to facilitate a bypass of U.S. obligations towards these migrants. The context suggests that the administration may be exploiting Ghana as a "third country" for deportation purposes to expedite removals. Chutkan articulated her frustration with the government's approach, which appears to neglect legal protections afforded to the deportees, according to Los Angeles Times, Reuters, and CBS News.

Legal representatives for the affected individuals expressed their fears that the Ghanaian government is not adhering to prior assurances against sending the migrants home, as confirmed during court proceedings. Ghana's President John Mahama acknowledged the agreement with the U.S. to handle West African deportees but has since faced backlash from local opposition parties calling for the deal's suspension over concerns of human rights and diplomatic integrity, according to ABC News and Los Angeles Times.