From thousands of miles away, a Texas dad, hiding in a country he doesn't know, reminded his son to vacuum the carpet each week.
asserted
he → hide → carpet
Moussa Diawara is from Mali, but spent nearly half his life living in the United States, where he married, had two U.S. citizen children, worked and paid taxes.
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he → spend → taxes
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported him to Ghana over the summer.
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Enforcement → deport → summer
Diawara has no connection to Ghana, but a judge had issued an order that he couldn't be deported to Mali, because it was likely he'd be persecuted there.
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he → have → Mali
Diawara said that within days of his arrival in Ghana, local officials forced him onto a flight to Mali.
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officials → say → Mali
"I still say to myself, 'This isn't real,'" Diawara said.
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Diawara → say → myself
Third-country deportations are a reality for many as President Trump's administration seeks to carry out the largest deportation in U.S. history.
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administration → seek → history
When the U.S. government decides an immigrant can't stay in the U.S., and can't be sent to their home country, it can send them to a third country.
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it → decide → country
A 60 Minutes investigation found that some of the third countries accepting deportees from the U.S. are routinely sending them back to the very countries they fled — locations where U.S. immigration judges ruled they would likely be persecuted or tortured.
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they → find → countries
What happened to Moussa Diawara
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happened → happen → Diawara
Diawara, 57, came to the U.S. on a tourist visa when he was 32.
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he → come → visa
He overstayed that visa, and later applied for refugee protection, arguing he would be persecuted if he were to return to Mali.
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he → overstay → Mali
Diawara had converted to Christianity, and Mali's a Muslim-majority nation with an Islamist insurgency.
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Mali → convert → insurgency
He has no criminal record.
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He → have → record
In 2012, a U.S. immigration judge ruled that Diawara could not be deported to Mali, but the U.S. could find a safe alternative if it ever wanted to remove him from the country.
uncertain
it → rule → country
As a result of the ruling, Diawara was able to get a U.S. work permit.
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Diawara → get → permit
He worked as an Uber driver and was finishing a night shift on July 11 of this year when he found ICE agents waiting for him at the suburban Houston home where he lived with his wife and children, who are U.S. citizens.
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who → work → wife
Diawara spent three weeks in ICE detention in Texas, unable to speak to his lawyer or a judge.
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Diawara → spend → lawyer
He was loaded onto a plane and deported to Ghana, a country he never visited or had any ties to, on July 31.
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he → load → July
In Ghana, Diawara said he and others were detained in a hotel by armed guards and were not allowed to make phone calls.
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he → say → calls
"I cannot call my wife, I can't contact my lawyer.
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I → call → lawyer
I can't talk to no one," Diawara said.
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Diawara → talk → one
"I tell them, 'This is kidnapping.
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This → tell → them
You guys kidnapped us.'
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guys → kidnap → us
60 Minutes first got in touch with Diawara in August.
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Minutes → get → August
At the time, he was homeless and hiding in Mali, fearing for his safety after Ghanaian officials dropped him there with no money or identification.
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officials → hide → money
He was able to escape to another country with the help of some local truckers after several weeks in Mali.
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He → escape → Mali
Diawara asked for the country to not be disclosed out of concern for his safety.
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country → ask → safety
Diawara acknowledged that the U.S. had a right to deport him, but not to Mali.
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U.S. → acknowledge → Mali
And he believes the U.S. knew Ghana would send him there.
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Ghana → believe → him
U.S. officials gave him a medical document on the flight to Ghana with the destination listed as "SHRC Mali" — SHRC stands for Special High Risk Charter, referring to the kind of flight Diawara was on.
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Diawara → give → flight
"So they know 100% I'm going to Mali," Diawara said.
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Diawara → know → Mali
Both of his bag tags, issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), also list the destination as Mali.
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Both → issue → Mali
"Well, he wasn't flown to Mali," said James Percival, DHS's top lawyer.
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Percival → fly → Mali
"He was flown to Ghana, but I can't speak to why that piece of paper says that."
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piece → fly → that
A DHS spokesperson later followed up with a statement, saying the bag tags were "produced by contractors" who "are not part of the process that determines...the destination."
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that → follow → destination
The medication form, the statement said, was a "clerical error."
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statement → say → ?
Ghana's government declined to comment.
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government → decline → ?
DHS says Ghana had provided the U.S. with "diplomatic assurances" for Diawara's safety.
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Ghana → say → safety
The agency also questioned the credibility of Diawara's arguments for fearing persecution in Mali.
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agency → question → Mali
…and 35 more, not listed.
The Aporia
