pregnant woman – Anabella Gyasi and her 4-year-old son, detained at Washington Dulles International Airport for more than a week, were ordered by a federal judge to be released from the airport’s hold room by the end of Friday. Her attorneys argue she was held illegally in inh
Alexandria. Virginia — When Anabella Gyasi and her 4-year-old son landed at Washington Dulles International Airport more than a week ago on tourist visas. they expected a medical appointment to move their lives forward. Instead. her attorneys say they have been trapped in a holding room described as “a windowless room with a single bed and toilet.”.
On Friday, in a federal courtroom in Alexandria, US District Judge Leonie Brinkema delivered the kind of order that changes the next hours, not the next day. Brinkema told the US government that Gyasi “cannot spend tonight at Dulles,” and said “One way or another, we’re going to get her out.”
The judge’s demand was tied to a straightforward problem: while Gyasi’s case plays out in immigration proceedings. the immediate question is whether she and her son can be moved while any deportation process is underway. Brinkema said Gyasi and her son could leave Virginia and be deported only if the government could guarantee she would no longer be held at Dulles while deportation is processed.
In court, Gyasi’s attorneys argued she is being detained illegally at the airport. The government argued something different: that Gyasi’s tourist visa was not valid because she “admitted under oath … her intent was not to leave the United States to return to Ghana.”
The hearing came after a key setback. After an immigration judge denied Gyasi’s asylum request on Wednesday. her legal team said it became “virtually impossible” for Gyasi and her son to remain in the country. Their focus then shifted again—away from what might happen next in court. and toward the conditions in which she is being held.
Mary Bauer, executive director of the ACLU of Virginia, said the case is now about basic human safety. She praised Brinkema’s recognition of what her team has been saying all week: “human beings should not be detained under the conditions our client was being detained at Dulles Airport in a windowless room without access to appropriate food or medical care.”.
Bauer’s point landed in the middle of a dispute about what led to the detention in the first place—because Gyasi did not enter the process quietly. Her case began with a medical purpose. Gyasi. 38. came to the United States on a tourist visa for an appointment at Akron Children’s Hospital to evaluate her son’s severe physical abnormalities affecting his fingers on both hands. according to a petition filed in court. The petition says the family had traveled for treatment two years earlier. but Gyasi was told her child was too young for surgery at the time. The tourist visas were set to expire in 2028.
Her attorneys say she and her son were supposed to board a connecting flight to Ohio. Instead. the petition alleges they were “locked in a holding room” and “denied adequate food and medical care.” The petition describes the moment that changed everything at US Customs: Gyasi disclosed her fear of returning to Ghana based on persecution she and her son faced.
Gyasi’s attorneys point to her background and what she told authorities during questioning. She is alleged to have said her mother is “a traditional priest. ” and that when her mother saw the child “as a baby and his disability. ” she told Gyasi she should “kill him. ” according to a government transcript of her statement to an immigration officer.
The government, in its own filings, describes the asylum pathway that followed. It said Gyasi “claimed a fear of returning to Ghana. received a credible fear interview from an asylum officer. ” and that an Immigration Judge affirmed the asylum officer’s determination. The government wrote that this meant an expedited removal order remained ready to be executed through removal to Ghana.
As the legal process moved forward, Gyasi’s body became part of the argument. Her petition says she was hospitalized twice over the past week—first for lightheadedness and then for vaginal bleeding. The petition says doctors attributed the problems to high stress and high blood pressure. Her attorneys allege medical staff were “concerned that she was not eating enough and fed her” and even gave her food “to take back with her.” The petition also says she told officials she and her son were not familiar with the food in the US. and that it was making her sick and weak.
A federal case file also describes hunger as an everyday distress. Her attorneys allege that after repeated requests for more food. Gyasi agreed to be deported four days after her arrival. “fearing that she might lose her unborn child.” In a transcript cited in the petition. Gyasi told a CBP officer. “Because I’m pregnant. I am getting weaker and weaker by the day.” Her petition says her son “spent much of the day crying because of his hunger pains. ” and that CBP officers allegedly denied her request to purchase food. telling her she could only access the food they provided.
The petition also says the situation shifted at least temporarily after she agreed to drop her asylum request. It alleges officers offered to get her “whatever food she wanted” and let her and her son shower for the first time since their detention.
The government disputes the allegations at the center of the humanitarian fight. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said the allegations of mistreatment are “false. ” adding that “Everyone in CBP custody. including this individual. has access to appropriate care. including medical evaluation by a doctor. medication. and food.” The spokesperson told CNN that Gyasi remains in CBP custody at Washington Dulles International Airport and “will remain in custody pending her immigration hearing.”.
Court filings also describe the scrutiny on Gyasi’s decision to raise asylum. Gyasi said in a statement under oath to immigration authorities that she had been researching asylum “for the past 2 years” after officers examined her phone and found a history of searches. The CBP officer wrote that Gyasi had also considered asylum in Canada and Australia.
Her attorneys argue honesty is what changed her fate. Eden Heilman. Gyasi’s lead attorney with ACLU of Virginia. said in court that “These windowless rooms were never designed for long-term detention.” Heilman also said the government’s view turns on the fact that Gyasi disclosed her fear. “If she did not disclose the fear that she was having about persecution in her country. she could have still entered on the tourist visas. ” Heilman told CNN.
The judge’s order also reflected a timing issue—how fast authorities could move her. In Friday’s hearing, Brinkema gave the Trump administration a 2 p.m. deadline to show they had arranged for Gyasi and her son to have a nonstop flight back to Ghana before the end of the day. according to court records.
The case has also become part of a broader argument over how the federal government handles pregnant detainees and the policies meant to limit their custody. Immigration and Customs Enforcement policy dating back to the Obama administration says pregnant women should not be detained unless there are “extraordinary circumstances” requiring it. That policy was rescinded a year ago by acting CBP commissioner Pete Flores. who said it and other policies regarding vulnerable detainees were “either obsolete or misaligned with current Agency guidance and immigration enforcement policies.”.
Even so, the Trump administration has not changed a separate CBP guidance stating: “Detainees should generally not be held for longer than 72 hours in CBP hold rooms or holding facilities.” Her attorneys have argued that Gyasi is being held beyond what the rules are supposed to allow.
Gyasi’s legal team says attention during the early days of custody focused on her pregnancy. They also believe the detention ties into President Donald Trump’s push to end birthright citizenship. under which children born in the US are automatically American citizens. In a Wednesday statement. ACLU attorney Sophia Gregg said Gyasi is “just one of a number of pregnant people who’ve been detained in shocking numbers in the wake of President Trump’s executive order trying to end birthright citizenship – and it has to stop.”.
The Department of Homeland Security, for its part, said it does not accept that the conditions amounted to wrongdoing.
In the end, the courtroom message was blunt and immediate. After the federal process that could have allowed Gyasi and her son to remain in the US appeared to close. Brinkema insisted on one thing that could be decided right then: no more nights in the holding room at Dulles. At the end of the hearing, she reiterated, “She’s not gonna spend tonight at Dulles.”.
Anabella Gyasi Dulles Airport pregnant woman detained Ghana asylum seeker windowless holding room Leonie Brinkema ACLU of Virginia CBP custody