Maryland grandma, 58, deported to country she 'has never even visited'
In Ghana, Rabbiatu Kuyateh was dragged across the floor while being taken to a bus and shipped off to Sierra Leone
By Lauren Acton-Taylor
Daily Mail
Nov 26, 2025
Rabbiatu Kuyateh, 58, was deported from Maryland to Ghana where a video showed her being dragged across the floor to be taken to Sierra Leone after she fled its civil war 30 years ago
A Maryland woman has told of her shock after she was deported to a country she says she has no ties to - and has never even visited.
Rabbiatu Kuyateh, 58, who fled to the US from the Sierra Leone civil war 30 years ago, was sent to Ghana earlier this month after being detained at her annual check-in with ICE.
Since then a shocking video has emerged that appears to show her being dragged across the floor by individuals who she believes to be employees of the Ghanaian government.
In the video, which has circulated widely on social media, people in green uniforms were seen pulling the grandmother on her stomach across the floor to load her onto a bus to Sierra Leone, where she is now staying at an undisclosed location.
Kuyateh told NBC 4 she tried to resist as she was violently manhandled. 'That's when they dragged me. They bumped the back of my head,' she said. Photos seen by NBC appear to show injuries to Kuyateh's head that she says were sustained in the fracas.
Mohamed Alghali, Kuyateh's son, said his mother's initial detention came out of the blue and that he felt 'defeated' when she was separated from him. '[It] felt like I failed my mom' he told the outlet.
He recalled to the outlet the moment she was taken away: 'They called her to the back. They said, "Yeah Rabbiatu, you have a order of removal. So, we're, you know, yeah, we're detaining you."'
'I mean, my heart just broke.'
Kuyateh was dragged across the floor on her stomach, as people in green uniforms held onto her wrists to load her on to a bus
Kuyateh believed the people loading her onto the bus were workers for Ghana's government
Mohamed Alghali, Kuyateh's son, said his 'heart just broke' after his mother was taken from Maryland, where their family built their home
Hannah Bridges, Kuyateh's attorney, said that the grandmother's human rights had been violated during the process of her deportation.
'I don't think anyone expected her to be detained, just because nothing had changed with her circumstances,' Bridges told the outlet.
Kuyateh spent several days in Maryland ICE's temporary holding area before she was moved to a facility in Louisiana where she spent several months, according to Bridges.
As the lawyer attempted to fight for Kuyateh, all her requests for court hearings 'went unacknowledged,' she told the outlet.
According to Bridges, Kuyateh 'should have been given notice and an opportunity to seek protection from removal to a third country.'
'The government had multiple opportunities to do this,' she added.
In September a judge ordered that Kuyateh could not be deported to Sierra Leone, where the 58-year-old grandma had previously been tortured, Bridges told NBC.
She was then sent to Ghana and spent six days in a hotel before the bus arrived to take her to Sierra Leone, the lawyer claimed.
Hannah Bridges, Kuyateh's attorney, said the grandmother's rights were violated and she 'should have been given notice and an opportunity to seek protection from removal to a third country'
It is understood that the Sierra Leone High Commission in Ghana is aware of the allegations and plans investigate.
Kuyateh told NBC: 'I consider America my home. It's like, I built relationships there.'
Alghali, her son, was born in the United States, and has family living with him in DC. His grandparents moved over to be with them and became citizens, while Kuyateh was a nurse on a work permit and never became a citizen.
Her son owns a home in Bowie with Kuyateh and describes his mother as his best friend.
Kuyateh served as her parents primary care giver, and she said she was worried who would now care for them.
Alghali told the outlet that he felt that his mother had been failed by the United States.
'Yes, one hundred percent. I felt like they've been failing her,' he said.
Kuyateh's case raises concerns for deportees being sent to Ghana, after the US Department of Justice said that Ghana pledged it would not send deportees back to their home countries in September.
Kuyateh was protected from being deported directly to Sierra Leone by a US judge after claiming she had been tortured there
Her son was born in the United States and his grandparents moved to be with them and became citizens, while Kuyateh was a nurse on a work permit and never became a citizen
The DOJ also argued it had no power to control how another country treats deportees.
However, the United Nations human rights office called on Ghana to stop sending deportees from the US back to their home countries if it was determined by US courts to be dangerous, NBC reported.
The Daily Mail has reached out to ICE in Maryland, the Sierra Leone High Commission in Ghana, Kuyateh's attorney Bridges and the US Department of Justice for comment.
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