"Ghana is Not Accepting Abrego Garcia": Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa Clarifies

• Ghana has rejected the planned deportation of Salvadoran national Kilmar Abrego Garcia by US authorities
• Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa clarified that Ghana will not accept the alleged MS-13 gang member
• The government said it communicated this position directly to the Trump administration amid rising public concern

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has stated that Ghana will not accept the deportation of the Salvadoran national, Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

Abrego Garcia, accused of being a member of the MS-13 gang, is one of the major names in President Donald Trump's administration's crackdown on immigration.

On Friday, October 10, 2025, the media in the US reported that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was planning to deport the Salvadoran national to Ghana.

This news sparked reactions on social media, with many Ghanaians expressing concerns.

In a Facebook post, Okudzeto Ablakwa said that the Government of Ghana has communicated to the Trump administration that Abrego Garcia would not be accepted in Ghana.

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"Ghana is not accepting Abrego Garcia. He cannot be deported to Ghana. This has been directly and unambiguously conveyed to US authorities," he said.

"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 added.

Read Okudzeto Ablakwa's post below:

Abrego Garcia's deportation battles with Trump's administration

Garcia was previously wrongly deported to El Salvador and then brought back to the US.

His lawyers said he will be in court on October 10 for an evidentiary hearing in which government witnesses are expected to testify about the steps taken to remove him to Eswatini or elsewhere.

Garcia, who had been living in Maryland with his wife and children, was deported in March to El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison.

This was despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation to that country due to fear of persecution.

However, the Trump administration claimed he was a member of the criminal gang MS-13, which his family and attorneys deny.

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He was subsequently brought back to the US in June to face human smuggling charges in Tennessee, to which he pleaded not guilty.

After being released into the custody of his brother in Maryland pending trial, he was again detained by immigration authorities, who state their intent to deport him.

Ghana's agreement with US to accept deportees

During an engagement with the press on September 10, President John Mahama first said that Ghana was receiving people deported from the US.

The president explained that there was a bilateral agreement with the US that allows nationals from various West African countries to be sent to Ghana.

At the time, President Mahama said 14 deportees had already arrived in the country.

Trump administration removes visa restrictions on Ghana

Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh reported earlier that the Donald Trump administration reversed visa restrictions imposed on Ghanaians.

Ablakwa said the reversal of the restrictions took months of high-level diplomatic negotiations with the US.

The US was worried that Ghana was one of the African countries with high visa overstay rates in the US.

Source: YEN.com.gh