U.S. immigration authorities have deported nine Somali men from Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to Somalia, including three Minnesotans.
Among those on the private flight last week were Adam Mohamed Abdullah and Hassan Abtidoon. They were held at U.S. detention facilities at Guantánamo for about a month before their deportation.
In interviews from Guantánamo, detainees reported that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents informed them that they were being deported from Louisiana to Somalia, with a refueling stop in Cuba.
Two of the Minnesotans and another man interviewed by Sahan Journal on Sept. 9 reported having work permits and Social Security numbers. They were nonetheless targeted for deportation as the Trump administration intensified its removal efforts.
Adam said the detainees had only 30 minutes’ notice to prepare for travel. They were shackled before being transported to the airplane. During the flight, which included layovers in Puerto Rico, Dakar, and Nairobi, the detainees remained chained.
As they prepared to depart from Dakar, an officer requested silence so he could rest. In response, one detainee quipped, “We are in Africa, and we are the captains now,” prompting laughter among the group.
Rebuilding a life
In a phone call from Mogadishu, Adam, 31, expressed gratitude for the media attention surrounding their situation, noting that the Trump administration allocated significant resources for their deportation, including a private jet for transport from Cuba to Somalia.
But the transition has been hard. Adam said he’s grappling with financial insecurity and anxiety about rebuilding his life.
His mother died on March 9, while he was detained in Kentucky. Authorities wouldn’t allow him to make an international call to talk to family members, leaving him unable to eat or sleep.
“I requested a voluntary departure while she was sick, but they denied it,” Adam said. “Even when she died, I pleaded with them, but there was nothing they did.”
As he readjusts to life in Mogadishu, Adam faces skepticism from neighbors who associate him with the infamous Guantánamo Bay prison, known for detaining terrorism suspects. “Even some of my family members don’t believe that I went there innocent,” he said.
Stranded at the Mogadishu airport
Hassan, 31, said his life changed dramatically after he was detained and deported, shattering his dreams of working, marrying and pursuing further education.
“Back in Somalia, my options are very limited, and my safety is at risk,” he said.
One particularly troubling experience occurred upon his deportation, when he found himself stranded at the Mogadishu airport for hours after his deportation flight landed. ICE had confiscated his iPhone and wallet, which contained $740 in cash, during his time at the Kandiyohi County jail in Willmar.
Without his phone, Hassan was unable to access the contact information for his relatives in Somalia. The loss of his cash and bank cards left him unable to pay for a hotel or meals.
“I never expected that,” he said. He now lives at his sister’s house in Mogadishu.
Abdiaziz Abdullahi, Hassan Abtidoon’s cousin, said he was shocked by the conditions Hassan and the other men experienced at Guantánamo including the lack of privacy, constant bright lights, exposure to cold, tight shackling when they moved around and the strict 10-minute limit on phone communications.
Abdiaziz said the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) lawyer informed him the deportation process for these men had been expedited. The ACLU has sued to halt the use of Guantánamo Bay for holding immigration detainees; the outcome of that case is still pending.
Back in a country he barely remembers
Abdullahi Jamal Abdi, 42, was one of eight Somalis detained at Guantánamo Bay for a month before being deported to Somalia. A ninth Somali detainee was flown in from Louisiana shortly before the deportation flight.
AbdullahiHe arrived in the United States legally as a refugee at the age of 8, on Aug. 28, 1992, and he neither speaks Somali nor understands Somali culture.
His wife, Reyann Abdi, said it appeared that immigration officials targeted Abdullahi because of a DUI charge he had received as a teenager.
“After being detained and hiring an attorney we found it all stemmed down to a small filing fee that his mother failed to pay when he was a minor,” she said. “We were fighting the case legally when he was abruptly deported with false travel documents and without even going in front of a judge.”
She said separation has taken a toll. The Pennsylvania couple have been together for over 17 years and have two children.
“My children often ask where their father went and why he left, especially our 5-year-old son who doesn’t understand what happened to his father,” Reyann said.
She expressed concern for Abdullahi’s safety in Somalia, where he has no family ties. Currently, he is staying in a hotel without permanent housing until his mother arrives in two to three weeks.
Guantánamo detention adds stigma
Marc Prokosch, an immigration attorney based in the Twin Cities, has represented Adam and three other Somali men detained at Guantánamo Bay. In an interview with Sahan Journal on Monday, Prokosch said that the actions of ICE appear legally justified, as the detainees have deportation orders for their home country.
“I will admit that, legally, this was proper under the current interpretation of the law. However, morally and ethically, it is an abomination. I truly believe that we as Americans do not want our names associated with this behavior carried out in our name,” Prokosch said.
Prokosch also expressed concern regarding ICE’s decision to remove location information for detainees with final deportation orders from its public database. This action complicates his ability to communicate with his clients.
“People with final removal orders have legal options, but I need to be able to talk with them to explore those options,” he said.
Prokosch also highlighted the financial implications of current immigration enforcement practices. “Congress just allocated $75 billion for ICE to use as they see fit. We have historical precedent, such as the Keyse Jama case from about 15 years ago, where the government spent a quarter of a million dollars just to deport one person.”
Sending deportees to Guantánamo Bay appeared to be an intentional move by DHS, Prokosch said, aimed at discouraging future asylum seekers.
“This creates a stigma that implies, ‘If you were in Guantánamo, you must be a terrorist.’ This is deliberate,” he said.
