An Afghan woman who was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement while travelling to Toronto to reunite with her family says she was deported to the Central African Republic after Ottawa failed to respond to ICE’s request to release her to Canada, according to legal submissions made to the federal government.
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Ottawa → detain → government
The woman, who is a former nurse for Médecins Sans Frontières, was detained by ICE in Texas, December, 2024, and deported in June of this year.
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who → detain → year
She fled Afghanistan alleging persecution for being Hazara, a minority Muslim community that is persecuted by the Taliban, as well as her family’s history working for Western organizations in Helmand province.
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that → flee → province
The Globe and Mail is not naming the woman because of the risk she would face in Afghanistan if the Central African Republic forcibly repatriates her, which her lawyer says remains a possibility.
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lawyer → name → her
The former nurse has a temporary visa to remain in the conflict-ridden African country, but it expires at the end of the year.
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it → have → year
In an interview with The Globe last week, the woman said she is terrified for her safety.
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she → say → safety
The Central African Republic, located between Cameroon and South Sudan, is described by the World Bank as “one of the poorest and most fragile countries in the world.”
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Republic → locate → world
Canada has temporarily paused deportations to the country owing to concerns over the humanitarian crisis there.
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Canada → pause → crisis
In the United States, the practice of removing people to countries they have no connection with has become a key part of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, according to the American Immigration Council, a non-profit that advocates for immigrant rights.
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that → remove → rights
The measure is used to deport individuals who cannot be legally returned to their home country owing to a credible risk of persecution.
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who → use → persecution
The Afghan woman has now filed an application from the Central African Republic to obtain a Canadian temporary resident permit that would allow her join her sister and other family members, who have already been granted refugee status in Canada.
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who → file → Canada
These permits are granted on a case-by-case basis when someone is otherwise inadmissible.
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someone → grant → basis
Legal submissions made as part of the application say there is “reason to believe” that ICE unsuccessfully sought to send the woman to Canada, prior to deporting her to another country.
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ICE → make → country
“Canada has a responsibility here,” said the woman’s lawyer, Adam Sadinsky.
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lawyer → have → responsibility
“We’re not talking about opening the floodgates.
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We → talk → floodgates
We’re talking about doing right by one family.”
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We → talk → family
In a statement Monday,a spokesperson for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said the department could not comment on individual cases for privacy reasons.
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department → say → reasons
The statement said IRCC “remains committed to the principle of family reunification in the context of its immigration programs.”
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IRCC → say → programs
When the woman fled Afghanistan, she was unable to fly directly to Canada because she did not qualify for a visitor visa, according to immigration submissions made to the federal government.
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she → flee → government
However, she was eligible to claim refugee protection in Canada at its border with the U.S., according to Mr. Sadinsky.
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she → claim → Sadinsky
While the Safe Third Country Agreement prevents most asylum seekers from travelling by land through the U.S. to claim asylum in Canada, the treaty contains an exception for those with close relatives legally residing here.
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treaty → prevent → relatives
The reunification plan was derailed after the woman, who fled to Brazil with her brother and father after being granted a temporary visa by the Brazilian government, travelled by land to the U.S. and was detained after crossing the border in Texas.
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who → derail → Texas
In submissions to IRCC, lawyers for the family described what unfolded next as a “legal trap”: U.S. authorities were willing to release the family if they could travel to Canada by air, but this required Ottawa to grant them temporary resident permits.
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this → describe → permits
Ottawa rejected the woman’s application for one in October, 2025, according to documentation reviewed by The Globe.
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Ottawa → reject → Globe
Earlier this year, an ICE officer told the Afghan woman that the U.S. immigration agency had made requests to remove her to the Dominican Republic, Panama, or Canada, according to a statutory declaration that she made as part of her immigration case.
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she → tell → case
The officer told her that the first two countries refused the request, while Canada did not respond, she states.
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she → tell → request
Court filings show her father, who was held at a different detention facility and filed a habeas corpus application to be released, experienced a similar issue.
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who → show → issue
In deciding his case, a New Mexico district judge cited evidence from deportation officer Juaquin Quevedo, who said ICE had made four requests to Ottawa to remove the man to Canada – most recently in February, 2026 – but did not receive a response.
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ICE → decide → response
The New Mexico court ordered that the Afghan woman’s father, as well as her brother, be released from detention.
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father → order → detention
Both were able to travel to the Canadian border, where they were granted entry to claim asylum.
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they → travel → asylum
However, the former nurse was deported by ICE before her family had the chance to complete a similar habeas corpus application for her, the woman’s sister said.
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sister → deport → her
The sister, who is based near Toronto, told The Globe last week that she realized something was amiss when her sister’s contact details disappeared from an ICE-monitored app that allows detainees to call family members.
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detainees → base → members
“I kept calling the detention centre,” she said.
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she → call → centre
“They sent no information.”
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They → send → information
The former nurse’s statutory declaration says she was taken without prior notice from the Texas detention facility and driven to a Louisiana airport in early June.
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she → say → June
On June 11, she was handcuffed at the feet and hands, put on an airplane, and told that she was headed for the Central African Republic, the declaration says.
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declaration → handcuff → Republic
The woman now shares an apartment provided by the UN’s International Organization for Migration with 11 other asylum seekers, she told The Globe in an interview.
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she → share → interview
She said the organization has imposed a strict curfew on residents, and said she only leaves her apartment if absolutely necessary.
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she → say → apartment
The Central African Republic has struggled for years with sectarian violence between its Muslim and Christian populations.
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Republic → struggle → populations
Last year, the United Nations released a report documenting “grave human rights violations” by armed groups targeting Muslim communities including summary executions, sexual violence and torture.
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Nations → release → executions
…and 14 more, not listed.
The Aporia
