Woman deported from Maryland shown on video being dragged in Ghana [View all]

Rabbiatu Kuyateh was detained this summer at her annual ICE check-in, her son said. She moved to the D.C. area 30 years ago as she fled civil war in Sierra Leone.
Nov. 24, 2025, 9:30 AM EST / Source: NBC Washington
By Tracee Wilkins, Rick Yarborough and NBC Washington

A Maryland family is trying to get their loved one back after she was deported from the U.S. to a country they say she had no ties to. Video that’s made international news showed her being dragged by people her family believes worked for Ghana’s government.…

Rabbiatu Kuyateh, a 58-year-old mother and grandmother, moved to the D.C. area 30 years ago as she fled Sierra Leone’s civil war, said Mohamed Alghali, her son. He owns a home in Bowie with his mom, who he called his best friend.

Rabbiatu Kuyateh says she was flown to Ghana, a country she said she had never been to.
Alghali called his mother while the I-Team was with him. She said as she was flown from the U.S. to Ghana, her wrists and ankles were shackled for the entire 10-hour flight. Some had it even worse, she said.Kuyateh told the I-Team she and other deportees were sent to a hotel in Ghana. She said she was there for six days before video captured her being dragged.

A bus arrived to take Kuyateh to Sierra Leone — though a U.S. judge had ordered that she could not be sent there. She told News4 she resisted.

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https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/woman-deported-maryland-shown-video-dragged-ghana-rcna245596