Three Minnesotans deported to Somalia after a month at Guantánamo Bay

The deportations came after a monthslong ordeal, where many of the men were shuffled between detention facilities in different states, before their time at the U.S. military prison.

Pennsylvania resident Abdullahi Jamal Abdi. was held at U.S. detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as part of a group of a dozen Somali men, before he was deported. Credit: Provided

U.S. immigration authorities have deported nine Somali men from Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to Somalia, including three Minnesotans.

Among those on the private flight last week were Adam Mohamed Abdullah and Hassan Abtidoon. They were held at U.S. detention facilities at Guantánamo for about a month before their deportation.

In interviews from Guantánamo, detainees reported that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents informed them that they were being deported from Louisiana to Somalia, with a refueling stop in Cuba.

Adam said the detainees had only 30 minutes’ notice to prepare for travel. They were shackled before being transported to the airplane. During the flight, which included layovers in Puerto Rico, Dakar, and Nairobi, the detainees remained chained.

As they prepared to depart from Dakar, an officer requested silence so he could rest. In response, one detainee quipped, “We are in Africa, and we are the captains now,” prompting laughter among the group.

In a phone call from Mogadishu, Adam, 31, expressed gratitude for the media attention surrounding their situation, noting that the Trump administration allocated significant resources for their deportation, including a private jet for transport from Cuba to Somalia.

But the transition has been hard. Adam said he’s grappling with financial insecurity and anxiety about rebuilding his life.

His mother died on March 9, while he was detained in Kentucky. Authorities wouldn’t allow him to make an international call to talk to family members, leaving him unable to eat or sleep.

“I requested a voluntary departure while she was sick, but they denied it,” Adam said. “Even when she died, I pleaded with them, but there was nothing they did.”

As he readjusts to life in Mogadishu, Adam faces skepticism from neighbors who associate him with the infamous Guantánamo Bay prison, known for detaining terrorism suspects. “Even some of my family members don’t believe that I went there innocent,” he said.