Deportations of Ghanaian nationals from the United States have surged in 2025, with 312 deportees recorded between January and August.
New figures from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) show that the number represents a 17% increase in deportees compared to the same period in 2024 and marks one of the sharpest rises in recent years.
Between 2018 and 2023, annual deportations of Ghanaians typically ranged between 200 and 250, making this year’s figure a significant deviation from the norm.
42 Ghanaians deported on August 28 charter flight
The DHS confirmed that on August 28, 2025, a charter flight transported 42 Ghanaian nationals back to Accra.
Officials cited criminal convictions and visa overstays as the main reasons for removal.
The increase has been linked to the April 2025 “Global Enforcement Initiative”, a DHS policy expansion that intensified deportation operations globally, and a February 2025 executive order that prioritized the removal of individuals with criminal records or those deemed national security risks.
Advocacy groups say the shift has widened the net, sweeping up long-term residents, overstayers, and low-level offenders.
Migration experts warn that if current trends continue, Ghana could receive nearly 500 deportees by the end of 2025 — the highest number in over a decade.
Without improved systems for reintegration, they say, the country risks exacerbating social and economic vulnerabilities among returnees.
Section 241(b) of the US Immigration and Nationality Act gives the government wide latitude to remove aliens either to their home country, the country they last boarded a flight from, or to any country willing to accept them.
