Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has debunked reports that a Salvadoran national, Abrego Garcia, was being deported to Ghana by the US government.
This comes after news from some US news portals on October 9, 2025, stated that Garcia was being deported to the country as part of the Ghana-US deportation agreement.
However, in a post on X on October 10, 2025, Ablakwa denied the news, stating that Ghana’s agreement with the US government was to accept only “non-criminal West Africans” and not other foreign nationals.
“Ghana is not accepting Abrego Garcia. He cannot be deported to Ghana.
“In my interactions with US officials, I made clear that our understanding to accept a limited number of non-criminal West Africans, purely on the grounds of African solidarity and humanitarian principles would not be expanded. Ghana strongly objects to these misleading media reports,” he posted.
He added that this stance “has been directly and unambiguously conveyed to US authorities.”
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Who is Ábrego García?
Kilmar Armando Ábrego García was born in El Salvador. He entered the US as a teenager, fleeing gang violence, and in 2019 was granted withholding of removal because returning home posed serious risks.
In March 2025, he was deported by the Trump administration, an action later conceded as an “administrative error” despite having no criminal convictions, and was held without trial in El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) under a US–El Salvador arrangement to incarcerate deportees.
His wife then sued the US government, and courts, including the Supreme Court, ordered his return, which occurred in June, only for him to be indicted on human-smuggling charges and accusations of being an MS-13 gang member, which he denies.
Currently, Garcia’s asylum bid has been rejected, and he is facing attempts to be deported to another country.
Ghana’s deportation agreement with the US
Ghana and the US entered into a Memorandum of Understanding under which Ghana has agreed to accept some West African nationals deported from the United States under “exceptional circumstances.”
The first group, 14 people including Nigerians and a Gambian, have already arrived in Ghana and have been helped to return to their home countries.
Ghana’s government says it conducts vettings to ensure these individuals pose no security threat, that hardened criminals will not be accepted, and that the decision is based on humanitarian principles and Pan-African solidarity rather than financial benefit.
However, opposition lawmakers and the parliamentary minority argue that under Article 75 of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution, agreements that bind the state in foreign affairs require parliamentary ratification, and they claim this MoU has not been laid before Parliament as required.
See the post below:
Ghana is not accepting Abrego Garcia.
He cannot be deported to Ghana.
This has been directly and unambiguously conveyed to US authorities.
In my interactions with US officials, I made clear that our understanding to accept a limited number of non-criminal West Africans,… pic.twitter.com/nldddIyjPx
— Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa (@S_OkudzetoAblak) October 10, 2025
ID/AE
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