Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Minister-Designate for Foreign Affairs, has emphasized that, in contrast to previous claims indicating a mass deportation of 6,200 people under President Donald Trump, only 156 Ghanaians are currently in danger of being deported from the United States.
“Official information from U.S. authorities indicates a significantly lower number of affected individuals,” Ablakwa said during his vetting before the Appointments Committee of Parliament.
He claims that only 156 Ghanaians, not 6,200 as the media had previously said, are in danger of being deported from the United States.
He also promised that in order to protect the rights and dignity of the impacted Ghanaians, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is collaborating closely with U.S. authorities.
There have been publications that about 6,200 Ghanaians will be affected by the mass deportation by the United States. But from the brief that has been shared with me from the officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, they allay fears that the numbers are not that high and that currently, the official communication the ministry has received from Washington DC is 156, not 6,200, which face imminent deportation,” he stated.
Over 3,500 undocumented immigrants have been detained nationwide by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since Trump’s inauguration on January 20.
Additionally, the Trump administration has started deportation flights, which use American military planes to send migrants back to their home countries or third countries.
With a population of 341 million, the Pew Research Center estimates that there are about 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States.
