Anabella Gyasi Dulles Detention lasts more than a week at airport
Anabella Gyasi Dulles detention stretched for more than a week at Dulles International Airport after Gyasi, a pregnant woman from Ghana, arrived on May 19 with her 4-year-old son and a valid tourist visa. The American Civil Liberties Union said Customs and Border Protection took them into custody after questioning them about the purpose of their trip.
Dulles Airport hold rooms
Gyasi came to the United States to bring her son for medical treatment. She had first brought him to the United States in 2024, when he was 2 years old, to see a specialist for physical abnormalities affecting both of his hands. Earlier this month, she scheduled a pre-operation appointment at a children's hospital in Ohio and planned to travel using the same tourist visa she had used before.
The petition filed Tuesday said Gyasi and her son were held in a room with a single bed, a toilet, a sink, and no windows, and were kept locked inside 24 hours a day. The American Civil Liberties Union described airport hold rooms as places that are equipped with nothing more than a toilet, a sink, and a bed, with no on-site medical services.
ACLU habeas petition
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a habeas petition for Gyasi and her son on Tuesday, arguing that pregnant women and children should be released under long-standing regulations and policies. The petition also cited a court settlement requiring children to be transferred out of detention within 72 hours.
Gyasi's lawyers said doctors transported her to the hospital twice during the detention. Court documents cited by her lawyers say doctors diagnosed her with complications due to the high stress she was experiencing, gave her medication to stop the bleeding, and prescribed blood pressure medication.
Gyasi's asylum claims
Gyasi disclosed fear of returning to Ghana based on the persecution she and her son faced, and she signed a deportation order out of concern for her unborn child. The American Civil Liberties Union said she did not wish to relinquish their asylum claims and agreed to be deported out of desperation for the health of her son.
The immediate next step in the case is in the petition itself: the request that Gyasi and her son be released after more than a week in detention, with the 72-hour child-transfer requirement and the long-standing protections for pregnant women central to the court's review.
