A pregnant Ghanaian woman and her four-year-old son, who travelled to the United States on valid tourist visas to seek medical treatment for the child’s hand disability, have allegedly been detained in a windowless holding room at Washington Dulles International Airport for more than a week, according to an emergency petition filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Virginia.
Anabella Gyasi, 38, is said to have arrived at Dulles on May 19, 2026, with her son — identified in court filings as G.O.O. — who was born with physical disabilities affecting the use of his hands. She had secured a May 30 appointment at Akron Children’s Hospital in Ohio, where specialists were to assess whether her son was old enough for corrective surgery. Both held tourist visas valid until April 2028.
Upon arrival, however, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) questioned the purpose of their trip and took them into custody. They have since been confined to a room with a single bed, toilet, and sink.
According to ACLU, Ms. Gyasi has been transported to a nearby hospital twice after experiencing vaginal bleeding and lightheadedness. Medical staff confirmed her pregnancy and high blood pressure, noting she was not eating enough and was severely stressed, and discharged her back to the airport, where CBP continued to hold her.
On May 23, Anabella pleaded with officers to allow her to buy food for herself and her son after the boy spent much of the day crying from hunger and she feared she would faint. The request was denied. Fearing for her unborn child, she told officers she would rather be deported than go without food, and signed a deportation order — at which point she was told she could have food and a shower.
The ACLU of Virginia filed an emergency petition in the Eastern District of Virginia on Monday night, alleging that CBP’s actions violate Ms. Gyasi and her son’s Fifth Amendment rights as well as US law. The petition calls for their immediate release and a stay of removal pending a hearing.
“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,” said ACLU-VA Immigrants’ Rights Attorney Dorna Maryam Movasseghi.
The case is one of a growing number involving pregnant women detained at US borders following President Trump’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship. Immigration attorneys and medical professionals have described a sharp rise in the detention of pregnant and postpartum women, with congressional reports documenting cases of women who bled for days before receiving hospital care, and others who were told to “just drink water” when they sought medical attention.
Ms. Gyasi’s family had previously visited the United States when G.O.O. was two years old, seeking treatment for his condition. When doctors determined he was too young for surgery at the time, they returned to Ghana, where they faced what the ACLU described as escalating persecution linked to the boy’s disability. Ms. Gyasi secured a new appointment for May 30 before making the trip that led to her detention.
“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 ACLU-VA Legal Director Eden Heilman. “No parent should ever be expected to make a choice like that.”
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