Pregnant woman from Ghana detained with child at Dulles Airport, ACLU says

Anabella Gyasi, a pregnant woman from Ghana, arrived on May 19 at Washington Dulles International Airport. She and her 4-year-old son were detained after arriving from Ghana on a tourist visa seeking medical treatment. Gyasi secured a visa and an appointment for her son at Akron Children's Hospital in Ohio, where she hoped her son would get care for a physical abnormality affecting his hands. Eden Heilman said that U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers asked her if she feared persecution in her home country, and Gyasi answered that she did because of her son's disability. CBP then classified her as an asylum applicant and moved to nullify her tourist visa.

The ACLU filed an emergency petition in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Tuesday calling for Gyasi and her son to be released so they can seek medical care. Dorna Maryam Movasseghi, an ACLU attorney, said, "Ms. Gyasi secured the necessary visas for her son's medical appointment, and by detaining them in dangerous conditions anyway, CBP is breaking the law and putting the Trump administration's cruel anti-immigrant agenda before basic human dignity and the Constitution." A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said, "Everyone in CBP custody, including this individual, has access to appropriate care, including medical evaluation by a doctor, medication, and food," and "The individual is currently in CBP custody at Washington Dulles International Airport and will remain in custody pending her immigration hearing." Gyasi allegedly told CBP officers she preferred to be deported because she fears remaining in detention could result in her losing her unborn child.

On Monday, Gyasi backtracked and said she did not wish to self-deport, according to Heilman. That day, Gyasi experienced vaginal bleeding and was again taken to a hospital, where doctors