Ghanaian teacher was detained at Dulles Airport for over a week after admitting asylum plans
📍 Accra • by iamkingvinis • May 30, 2026
A pregnant Ghanaian teacher and her four-year-old son are on a flight back to Ghana after spending more than a week confined to a windowless room at Washington Dulles International Airport, following a federal judge's order on Friday that ended their attempt to seek asylum in the United States. Anabella Gyasi, 38, a teacher from Ghana, arrived in the United States on a tourist visa with her son, who was born with physical abnormalities affecting his fingers on both hands.
She had secured an appointment at Akron Children's Hospital in Ohio for her son to be evaluated for possible surgery, after being told two years earlier that he was too young for the procedure. Their tourist visas were valid until 2028.
However, instead of boarding her connecting flight to Ohio, Gyasi and her son were taken into custody by US Customs and Border Protection officers and locked in a holding room at the airport. Union of Virginia, which represented her, they were denied adequate food and medical care during their detention.
CNN reports that the detention began after Gyasi, during customs questioning, disclosed her fear of returning to Ghana based on the persecution she and her son faced because of his disability. According to a government transcript of her statement to an immigration officer, Gyasi told authorities that her mother, a traditional priest, had urged her to kill her son when she saw his disability as a baby.
Her attorneys argued that she was being punished for her honesty.
She had secured an appointment at Akron Children's Hospital in Ohio for her son to be evaluated for possible surgery, after being told two years earlier that he was too young for the procedure. Their tourist visas were valid until 2028.
However, instead of boarding her connecting flight to Ohio, Gyasi and her son were taken into custody by US Customs and Border Protection officers and locked in a holding room at the airport. Union of Virginia, which represented her, they were denied adequate food and medical care during their detention.
CNN reports that the detention began after Gyasi, during customs questioning, disclosed her fear of returning to Ghana based on the persecution she and her son faced because of his disability. According to a government transcript of her statement to an immigration officer, Gyasi told authorities that her mother, a traditional priest, had urged her to kill her son when she saw his disability as a baby.
Her attorneys argued that she was being punished for her honesty.
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