Judge Orders DHS to Return Arizona Man Held in Equatorial Guinea

A federal judge ordered the Trump administration’s Department of Homeland Security to take steps to release Ahmed Soliman from detention in Equatorial Guinea and return him to the United States, finding that his deportation violated due process. Soliman, a gay man who grew up in Arizona, was sent to a country where he has no ties despite having raised fears of persecution if returned to Egypt. He has reportedly been arrested and held incommunicado after speaking publicly about conditions facing U.S. deportees, with accounts describing assaults and threats by armed guards. The order requires DHS to report regularly on his location and condition and bars another third-country deportation without a meaningful opportunity for him to present a fear claim; the agency may appeal. Soliman’s lawyers welcomed the ruling but said they remain concerned for him and other migrants held under the administration’s third-country deportation policy.