Documentation & Advocacy

News & Reports

Reports and analysis on torture prevention, OPCAT ratifications, UN treaty body sessions, and human rights documentation, sourced from OHCHR, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the Coalition monitoring work.

Court Orders Release and Reinstates Supervision After ICE Gave No Reasons for Re-Detention
Legal Framework

Court Orders Release and Reinstates Supervision After ICE Gave No Reasons for Re-Detention

A federal court in California ordered the release of a man re-detained after years on an order of supervision, finding the notice he was given stated no reasons for the revocation. The government told the court it had no opposition argument to present.

September 8, 2026
She Won Her Case, and Was Deported Anyway: A Maryland Nurse Sent Through Ghana
Reports

She Won Her Case, and Was Deported Anyway: A Maryland Nurse Sent Through Ghana

On September 17, 2025 an immigration judge granted Rabbiatu Kuyateh withholding of removal to Sierra Leone, and both sides waived appeal. Forty-nine days later the United States flew her to Ghana without telling her where she was going, and six days after that Ghanaian officers dragged her out of a hotel and flew her to Sierra Leone.

September 6, 2026
Ghana Offered a Safe Haven. What the July 31 Flight Met Instead
Reports

Ghana Offered a Safe Haven. What the July 31 Flight Met Instead

Ghana's foreign minister said on camera in September 2025 that his country was offering itself as a safe haven to West Africans deported by the United States, and that those who arrived could stay ninety days. Ten months later a flight landed in Accra carrying more than thirty people, every one of whom held a United States finding that they could not safely be returned home. Within a day, some of them were.

September 6, 2026
Before Ghana, Djibouti: What ICE’s Own Declaration Says About U.S. Third-Country Removals
Reports

Before Ghana, Djibouti: What ICE’s Own Declaration Says About U.S. Third-Country Removals

Four months before the deportation flights to Ghana, a court order stranded eight men on a United States naval base in Djibouti. What conditions were like there is not a matter of allegation. It is set out by the government itself, in a sworn declaration by a senior ICE official, and the Coalition publishes that declaration in full.

September 6, 2026
Withholding and CAT Deferral: What the Protection Covers, and What It Does Not
Commentary

Withholding and CAT Deferral: What the Protection Covers, and What It Does Not

Withholding of removal and deferral under the Convention Against Torture are findings about one named country. Understanding that limit is essential when a transfer to a different country is proposed.

September 3, 2026 Convention against Torture, art. 3; 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(2)-(3); 8 C.F.R. §§ 208.16, 208.17, 208.18; Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998, § 2242; American Immigration Council, third-country removals fact sheet.
US Court Sets Aside Third-Country Removal Policy; Appeal Court Stays the Judgment
Legal Framework

US Court Sets Aside Third-Country Removal Policy; Appeal Court Stays the Judgment

A US district court held in February 2026 that people facing removal to a third country are entitled to meaningful notice and an opportunity to raise a country-specific claim. The judgment was stayed on appeal in March 2026.

March 24, 2026 DHS v. D.V.D., No. 24A1153 (U.S. June 23, 2025); D.V.D. v. Department of Homeland Security, No. 25-cv-10676-BEM, 2026 WL 521557 (D. Mass. Feb. 25, 2026); First Circuit stay of 16 March 2026; DHS policy memorandum, 'Guidance Regarding Third Country Removals', 30 March 2025; ICE guidance of 9 July 2025.