ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The American Civil Liberties Union has filed an emergency petition in federal court seeking the release of Anabella Gyasi, a pregnant woman whom the organization says has been unlawfully detained with her disabled toddler at Dulles International Airport under dangerous conditions.
The petition requests immediate court action without the standard notice process and challenges the continued detention of Gyasi and her son by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
“She 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,” said ACLU of Virginia Senior Immigrants’ Rights Attorney Sophia Gregg.
“Ms. Gyasi legally traveled to the U.S. to get necessary medical care for her son, but the illegal detention and inhumane treatment that she’s experiencing at Dulles is endangering her son’s health as well as her own,” Gregg added.
During this time, both Gyasi and her son have been detained without access to or accommodation for necessary resources at Dulles Airport.
According to the ACLU, “Anabella Gyasi flew from Ghana to Dulles with her son, G.O.O., who was born with physical disabilities impacting the use of his hands. When G.O.O. was two years old, Ms. Gyasi brought him to the United States on tourist visas in hopes of securing medical treatment for him.”
Gyasi brought her son, G.O.O., to Dulles to seek medical care related to the physical disabilities that affect the use of his hands.
Prior to the current trip, “Ms. Gyasi brought him to the United States on tourist visas in hopes of securing medical treatment for him. When medical specialists told Ms. Gyasi G.O.O. was too young for corrective surgery, they returned to Ghana,” according to the ACLU.
In light of G.O.O.’s disability, “Ms. Gyasi successfully made a May 30, 2026, appointment with Akron Children’s Hospital in Ohio to evaluate whether G.O.O. is now old enough for surgery and secured tourist visas for herself and G.O.O. that expire in April 2028,” the ACLU stated.
Upon arrival, “Ms. Gyasi landed at Dulles on May 19, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) questioned the purpose of her trip and took her and her son into custody.”
“She and G.O.O. have been locked in a windowless room in Dulles ever since. The room has a single bed, toilet, and sink,” the ACLU stated.
During this time, neither Gyasi nor G.O.O. has been given medical screenings while in custody.
Additionally, “Ms. Gyasi was transported to a nearby hospital after she experienced vaginal bleeding and lightheadedness,” the ACLU said.
The ACLU continued, “Staff at the hospital confirmed her pregnancy and high blood pressure, expressed concern that she was not eating enough in detention and was over-stressed, and discharged her back to Dulles, where CBP continues to hold Ms. Gyasi and her son in dangerous conditions.”
Afterward, “On May 23, Ms. Gyasi pleaded with CBP to allow her to purchase food for herself and her son. G.O.O. spent much of the day crying because of his hunger pain, and Ms. Gyasi was in constant fear of fainting, but CBP officers denied her plea,” according to the ACLU.
Dornia Maryam Movasseghi, an ACLU of Virginia Immigrants’ Rights attorney, said, “Ms. Gyasi is following all the rules she was given — but CBP is not.”
Movasseghi added, “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.”
“Congressional reports have detailed abuses of pregnant women and children in Department of Homeland Security custody, including one woman who bled for days before being taken to a hospital, where she was left alone without water or medical assistance for over 24 hours while she miscarried,” the ACLU stated.
According to the ACLU, “Officers told another woman to ‘just drink water’ when she repeatedly requested medical attention.”
Eden Heilman, legal director of the ACLU of Virginia, said, “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.”
The ACLU concluded by stating, “The petition calls on CBP to immediately release Ms. Gyasi and her son from custody so that they can seek necessary medical care, and stay their removal from the country until their case is heard.”
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