Gambiaj.com – (NEW YORK, United States) – A Gambian woman detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is challenging her proposed removal to Ghana, arguing that the US government is seeking to send her to a country other than The Gambia despite an immigration judge having granted her protection from removal to her home country.
The case, Tako Wally v. Kenneth Genalo et al., 1:26-cv-08303, was filed on September 23, 2026, in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. Court records show that the case is assigned to US District Judge Dale E. Ho and is classified as a habeas corpus case involving an immigration detainee.
According to the account of the case published by Inner City Press, the woman was taken into ICE custody when she appeared for an immigration check-in on September 23. She was subsequently informed that she would be removed to Ghana. She has since filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus challenging her detention and the proposed removal.
Immigration Judge Granted Protection in 2013
The petition reportedly states that an immigration judge granted the woman statutory withholding of removal to The Gambia in 2013.
Withholding of removal is a form of protection under US immigration law that prevents the government from removing a person to a country where the person has established that their life or freedom would be threatened on specified grounds, including nationality, religion, race, political opinion, or membership of a particular social group. The protection is country-specific.
US regulations also provide a procedure for terminating an existing grant of withholding. Generally, the government must seek to reopen the immigration proceedings and establish grounds for termination before removal to the protected country can proceed.
The significance of the Gambian woman’s case is therefore not simply that she faces removal from the United States, but that her petition appears to challenge the proposed destination of Ghana while she has an existing withholding order protecting her from removal to The Gambia.
Ghana As A Third-Country Destination
The case comes amid increased use by the US government of third-country removals, including transfers of non-US nationals to Ghana.
In September 2025, a group of West Africans, including Gambians and Nigerians who had received protection against removal to their home countries, were transferred from US detention to Ghana.
A subsequent federal court case, D.A. et al. v. Noem, documented allegations that some of those detainees were subsequently at risk of being sent from Ghana to their countries of origin.
The earlier litigation included a Gambian man who had obtained protection under the Convention Against Torture and who was nevertheless transferred to Ghana before being sent onward to The Gambia. The case raised questions about so-called chain refoulement, in which a person is transferred to a third country and subsequently sent to a country from which US authorities had determined they should be protected.
The new New York case involves a different Gambian detainee but similarly raises questions about the relationship between an existing US immigration protection order and the government’s ability to remove a person to a third country.
Court Sets Case in Motion
The Southern District of New York docket shows that the habeas petition was filed on September 23, followed the same day by a scheduling order and notices of appearance. Pro bono counsel also entered an appearance on the woman’s behalf on September 23 and September 24.
Judge Ho has scheduled a hearing for October, according to the report on the case.
The court’s eventual consideration is expected to address the legality of the woman’s continued detention and the circumstances surrounding the proposed removal to Ghana.
For now, the public docket confirms that Tako Wally v. Kenneth Genalo remains an active case and that no final ruling has been recorded in the publicly available docket.
The case adds another Gambian dimension to a growing series of US immigration disputes involving the transfer of Gambian nationals to Ghana despite previous US immigration findings restricting their removal to The Gambia.
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