Pregnant Ghanaian woman and son, 4, detained for over a week at Dulles Airport - ACLU alleges
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Virginia has filed an emergency petition in federal court on behalf of a pregnant Ghanaian woman and her four-year-old son who have allegedly been detained in a windowless holding room at Washington Dulles International Airport for more than a week, after arriving on valid tourist visas to seek medical treatment for the child's hand abnormality.
Anabella Gyasi, 38, landed at Dulles on 19th May 2026 with her son, identified in court filings as G.O.O., who was born with physical disabilities affecting the use of his hands.
Gyasi had secured a May 30 appointment at Akron Children's Hospital in Ohio, where doctors were to evaluate whether her son, now four years old, is old enough for corrective surgery that specialists had said was not possible when he was two. Both mother and son held tourist visas valid until April 2028.
According to an ACLU press release, United States Customs and Border Protection officers questioned Gyasi about the purpose of her trip and then took her and her son into custody. Eden Heilman, legal director of the ACLU of Virginia, said officers asked Gyasi if she feared persecution in her home country. Gyasi answered honestly that she did because of her son's disability. CBP then classified her as an asylum applicant and moved to nullify her tourist visa.
"If she hadn't answered that question honestly, she would have been well on her way to her child's doctor's appointment," Heilman said.
The State Department last month instructed diplomatic missions to ask applicants for non-immigrant visas whether they fear returning home to their country and to refuse travel documents for those who answer yes. It remains unclear whether that policy is directly related to Gyasi's detention.
Gyasi and her son have been locked in a windowless room at Dulles ever since their arrival, according to the court filing. The room, described as a converted work area, contains a single bed, a toilet and a sink. Neither mother nor son received medical screenings upon detention.
On two occasions, Gyasi was transported to a nearby hospital. On Friday, she felt lightheaded and was examined, with medical staff expressing concern that she was not being fed enough. On Monday, she experienced vaginal bleeding and was again taken to hospital, where doctors attributed her condition to high stress and confirmed she has high blood pressure. On both occasions, she was discharged back to CBP custody at Dulles.
The ACLU alleges that on 23rd May, Gyasi pleaded with CBP officers to allow her to purchase food for herself and her son. According to the filing, the boy spent much of the day crying from hunger pains, and Gyasi feared fainting, but officers denied her request.
Because of her concern for her unborn child, Gyasi told officers she would prefer deportation over continued denial of adequate food. She signed a voluntary deportation order. Only then, the ACLU claims, was she told she could have whatever food she wanted as well as a shower. On Monday, however, Gyasi backtracked and said she no longer wished to self-deport.
"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," ACLU attorney Dorna Maryam Movasseghi said in a news release.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson denied the allegations. "Everyone in CBP custody, including this individual, has access to appropriate care, including medical evaluation by a doctor, medication, and food," the department said. "The individual is currently in CBP custody at Washington Dulles International Airport and will remain in custody pending her immigration hearing."
The ACLU filing alleges that CBP's actions violate Gyasi and her son's Fifth Amendment constitutional rights as well as United States law. The emergency petition, filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, calls for the immediate release of Gyasi and her son so they can seek necessary medical care and for their removal to be stayed until their case is heard.
A judge has ordered federal officials to show a legal basis for Gyasi's detention by 9am on Thursday.
The ACLU noted that following President Trump's executive order purporting to end birthright citizenship, immigration attorneys and medical professionals have reported seeing what one attorney described to The 19th news outlet as a "shocking number of detained postpartum and pregnant women" in immigration detention. Congressional reports have detailed abuses of pregnant women and children in Department of Homeland Security custody, the organisation said.
"CBP has put Ms. Gyasi in an impossible position: either risk her own and the life of her unborn child to improve her young son's life, or return home to ensure safe conditions for her pregnancy but unsafe conditions for her son," said Heilman. "No parent should ever be expected to make a choice like that."
