在9月末的一个星期天，德克萨斯州米斯奎特的一座小教堂里的信徒们为他们心爱的牧师塞缪尔·恩纳迪的平安归来祈祷。
On a Sunday in late September, worshippers at a small church in Mesquite, Texas, prayed for the safe return of their beloved pastor, Samuel Nnamdi.
“这段时间很难熬,”他的9岁的美国出生的女儿在接受MS NOW采访时说道。“在白天的时候，他有时候会打电话给我们，然后我就会开始想念他。”她和她的四个兄弟姐妹在7月6日从他去UPS上班的路上被移民和边境执法局的特工拘留后，与45岁的父亲分别，随后他被遣返回他从未去过且没有任何联系的加纳，这是作为总统唐纳德·特朗普扩大所谓第三国遣送政策的一部分。
“It’s been hard,” said his 9-year-old American-born daughter in an interview with MS NOW. “In the middle of the day, when he calls us sometimes and then I start to miss him.”She and her four siblings were separated from their 45-year-old father after he was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on his way to work for UPS on July 6, then subsequently deported to Ghana, a country he had never been to and has no ties to, as part of President Donald Trump’s expanded use of so-called third-country deportations.
MS NOW在西非一个不详地点会见了恩纳迪，由于恩纳迪担心报复，MS NOW没有透露具体地点。在那里，他陷入了无所适从的境地。
MS NOW met with Nnamdi at an undisclosed location in West Africa — which MS NOW is not revealing as Nnamdi fears retribution — where he is stuck in limbo.
“我在这生活中所见过的痛苦之一，就是孩子们没有父亲陪伴,”他说道。“我所想做的唯一一件事，就是养育我的孩子，养育我的家庭。”据追踪特朗普政府第三国遣送政策的“第三国遣送监控”项目统计，恩纳迪是超过25000名在特朗普第二任期内被遣送到第三国的人民中的一位。该项目记录了被遣送到存在人权滥用和安全问题国家的案例，包括被送往民主共和国刚果的拉丁美洲移民、被送往南苏丹的亚洲移民，以及被送往中非共和国的伊朗一位亲民主主义活动人士。
“One of the pains I have seen in this life is children not having their father around,” he said. “All I wanted to do was to raise my children, to raise my family.”Nnamdi is one of more than 25,000 people deported to third countries during Trump’s second term, according to Third Country Deportation Watch, a project tracking the Trump administration’s use of third-country deportation. The initiative has documented deportations to countries with human rights abuses and security concerns, including Latin American migrants sent to the Democratic Republic of Congo, migrants from Asia sent to South Sudan and an Iranian pro-democracy activist sent to the Central African Republic.
然而，多数同意接收美国遣送人员的国家究竟得到了什么尚不清楚。在许多情况下，这些协议的条款并未公开。然而，这项计划已耗费美国纳税人数亿美元。
It is still unclear what many of the countries that have agreed to accept U.S. deportees are receiving in return. In many cases, the terms of the arrangements have not been made public. The program, however, is already costing U.S. taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.
《华盛顿邮报》的一项调查显示，美国政府已批准或承诺拨款至少4.1亿美元，用于与31个国家达成第三方遣返协议，其中超过8100万美元直接支付给相关外国政府。
A Washington Post investigation found the administration has authorized or pledged at least $410 million to facilitate third-country deportation agreements with 31 countries, including more than $81 million in direct payments to foreign governments.
美国国土安全部发言人在一份声明中向MS NOW表示：“被遣送到第三国的非法移民在离境前都会收到通知并获得相关保障；同时，移民与海关执法局也能从目的地国家获得外交保证，确保这些被遣送的非法移民的安全。”不过据恩南迪的律师朱莉·贾斯蒂斯称，恩南迪并未收到任何关于自己将被遣返至加纳的正式通知。
In a statement, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told MS NOW: “Illegal aliens being sent to a third country receive notice and assurances prior to their removal, and ICE is given diplomatic assurances from destination countries that the illegal aliens being removed there will be safe.”Nnamdi, for his part, was not given proper notice that he was being deported to Ghana, according to his lawyer, Julie Justice.
“当时感觉就像在做梦一样。这件事我真心希望从未发生过，因为我实在无法接受自己与家人天各一方的事实，”他说道，“我不停地问：‘这是哪里？这是怎么回事？’”如今，恩南迪远在千里之外的异国他乡，只能依靠接纳他的基督教团体独自生活。每天孩子们上学前以及周末在家时，他都会通过视频通话与他们见面——这些短暂的交流成了他与家人之间唯一的联系。
“It really felt like a dream. It’s something I wish never happened because I could not reconcile the fact that I am far removed from my family,” he said. “I kept saying, ‘Where is this? What is this?’”Thousands of miles from his children, in an alien country, Nnamdi has built a solitary life around the Christian community that has taken him in. He sees his children on video calls before they leave for school, and again on weekends when they are home — a small but regular connection to the family he longs to be with.
特朗普政府一直宣称，此次严厉的移民管控措施主要针对“最恶劣的违法分子”。然而恩南迪是一名牧师，也是五个孩子的父亲——其中两个女儿是美国公民。过去五年里，他获得了工作许可，一直在联合包裹服务公司合法全职工作，且没有任何犯罪记录。
The Trump administration has long stated it is after “the worst of the worst” in its heavy-handed immigration crackdown. Nnamdi is a pastor, a father of five — two of his daughters being U.S. citizens — and has spent the past five years working full time, and legally, having been granted employment authorization, for UPS. He has no criminal record.
恩南迪原籍尼日利亚，2018年来到美国。他称当时有枪手闯入家中，威胁他若继续传教就会杀了他，因此他才带着家人寻求安全的避居之所。
Originally from Nigeria, he arrived in the United States in 2018, seeking a safe haven for his family after he said gunmen stormed his home and threatened to kill him if he continued preaching.
“肯定会有人问：‘可为什么是美国呢？’ 没错吧？因为美国就是那个包容各类人群的伟大国家，”他说道。“美国是那个保护民众的伟大国家。在美国，一个普通人也能成长为举足轻重的人物。”尼日利亚境内基督徒遭受迫害的现象是特朗普政府多次予以关注的问题。2025年10月，出于对当地宗教自由状况的担忧，特朗普政府将尼日利亚列为“特别关切国家”，随后于圣诞节当天对博科圣地和“伊斯兰国”的相关目标发动了打击。
“Somebody will say, ‘But why America?’ Right? Because America is that great nation that is accommodating to people,” he said. “America is that great nation that protects people. America is that great nation where a nobody can turn out to become somebody of importance.”The growing persecution of Christians in Nigeria is an issue the Trump administration has repeatedly drawn attention to. In October 2025, the Trump administration designated Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” over religious-freedom concerns before carrying out strikes on Boko Haram and Islamic State targets on Christmas Day.
德克萨斯州参议员泰德·克鲁兹也曾推动相关立法以解决尼日利亚基督徒受迫害的问题，但对于MS NOW多次提出的置评请求，他并未作出回应。
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has separately pushed legislation aimed at addressing the persecution of Christians in Nigeria, but did not respond to MS NOW’s repeated requests for comment.
据司法部介绍，恩纳姆迪持旅游签证进入美国，抵达后便申请了庇护。
Nnamdi entered the U.S. on a tourist visa and, according to Justice, sought asylum after arriving.
“我认为有必要说明，他完全遵守了所有程序。很多人来到这里后并不了解相关法律，直到聘请律师协助才明白。但塞缪尔始终严格按照法律行事，”司法部官员说道。
“I think it’s important just to show that he has followed all of the steps. People come here, and they don’t always understand the law until you know they hire an attorney to assist them in the process. But Samuel has done everything to follow the law and to abide by the law,” said Justice.
2019年，一名美国移民法官裁定：若将恩纳姆迪遣返回尼日利亚，他将面临极大危险，于是批准了所谓的“暂缓驱逐令”，禁止政府将其遣送回国。
In 2019, a U.S. immigration judge ruled that Nnamdi could face grave danger if he were returned to Nigeria, and granted him what is known as “withholding of removal,” which bars the government from deporting him there.
不过这项保护措施有一个重要限制：它并不能阻止政府将他送往其他国家。
But the protection came with an important limitation: It did not prevent the government from sending him to another country.
7月6日，恩纳姆迪身着联合包裹服务公司的制服前往上班途中遭逮捕。这套棕色的上衣与短裤是几代美国人都耳熟能详的标志性服装，而这也正是他最终被遣送到加纳时身上仅有的衣物。
On July 6, Nnamdi was arrested on his way to work, while wearing his UPS uniform. The brown shirt and shorts, instantly recognizable to generations of Americans, were the only clothes he had when he was ultimately deported to Ghana.
“这身[联合包裹的制服]深受大家喜爱——狗狗喜欢我们，猫咪喜欢我们，美国民众也喜欢我们。我们深受所有人喜爱。想象一下，戴着手铐、穿着这身衣服被送进拘留所的情景吧，”他说道。
“This [UPS] shield is loved by everybody — the dogs love us, the cats love us, the American people love us. We are loved by everybody. Imagine being cuffed and brought into the detention facility [wearing this],” he said.
另外几位被遣返回加纳的被遣返者通过远程方式接受了MS NOW的采访，他们描述了在长达数小时的遣返航班上极其恶劣的处境：双手和双脚被铐住，有些人甚至无法获得必要的药物治疗。
Several other deportees who were sent to Ghana and who spoke to MS NOW remotely described difficult conditions aboard the hourslong deportation flights — their hands and feet shackled, and in some cases deprived of important medication.
美国国土安全部发言人在一份声明中向MS NOW表示：“2018年8月29日，恩南迪试图以游客身份从西雅图-塔科马国际机场进入美国。他随即被美国海关与边境保护局逮捕，在承认自己有意逾期滞留后，便按快速驱逐程序予以处理。”根据美国庇护法，申请人必须身处美国境内才能提出庇护申请。
In a statement, a DHS spokesperson told MS NOW, “On August 29, 2018, Nnamdi attempted to enter the U.S. as a visitor at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. He was arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and processed as an expedited removal after admitting his intention of overstaying his lawful admittance.”Under U.S. asylum law, a person must be physically present in the U.S. to apply for asylum.
白宫发言人在给MS NOW的声明中称：“与第三国达成的协议有助于堵住我国移民体系中的漏洞，这些漏洞长期以来常被虚假申请所利用。”该国土安全部发言人也补充道：“如果非法移民选择在法庭上拒绝返回本国，他们也不应惊讶于我们会为他们安排一个安全可靠的去处。若他们选择回国，我们将提供免费机票及3000美元的补助金。选择权在他们手中。”
In a statement to MS NOW, a White House spokesperson said, “Third country agreements are helping close one of the loopholes in our immigration system that has far too often been abused with false claims.”“If an illegal alien chooses to file a claim in court refusing to go to their home country, they should not be surprised when we find a safe and secure nation for them to go to. If an illegal alien chooses to go home, we will give them a free flight home and a $3,000 check. The choice is theirs,” the DHS spokesperson added.
尽管国土安全部坚称自己为被遣返者找到了“安全可靠的安置国”，但曾为被遣返者代理案件并参与阻止向第三国遣返的法律行动的加纳律师奥利弗·巴克-沃马沃尔向MS NOW透露：许多被遣送到加纳的人随后又被强行送回原籍国。这些人大多担心自己会遭到杀害或迫害——这种做法即所谓的“驱回”，在国际法上是被明令禁止的。
While DHS argues it is finding “safe and secure nations” for deportees to go to, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, a Ghanaian lawyer who has represented deportees and has been involved in legal efforts to prevent third-country deportations, told MS NOW many of those sent to Ghana are then forced back to their country of origin, where many fear they could be killed or persecuted — a practice known as refoulement, prohibited under international law.
被遣返者中有一位名叫拉比阿图·库亚特的58岁塞拉利昂籍护士，她原本从马里兰州被送往加纳，之后又被强行遣返回自己逃离的祖国。
One of those deportees was Rabbiatu Kuyateh, a 58-year-old nurse from Sierra Leone who was sent from Maryland to Ghana before being forcibly returned to the country she had fled.
这段视频由其他被驱逐出境的移民拍摄并提供给MS NOW媒体。视频显示，加纳官员将库亚特强行拖过阿克拉的一家酒店，随后强迫她返回祖国塞拉利昂——而此前美国法官曾判定她在那里将面临生命危险。库亚特尽快离开了塞拉利昂，如今正藏身于非洲某个不为人知的地方。
Video, filmed by other deportees and shared with MS NOW, shows Kuyateh being dragged through a hotel in Accra by Ghanaian officials, and forced back to her native Sierra Leone, where a U.S. judge had ruled her life would be at risk. She left Sierra Leone as soon as she could and is now living in hiding in an undisclosed location in Africa.
“他们说要带我去加纳。我问：‘加纳？我去那儿做什么呢？’我原以为他们是要送我回家。”与恩南迪一样，库亚特也曾获得暂缓驱逐令，允许她留在祖国塞拉利昂。她在美国当了30多年的护士，甚至在新冠疫情肆虐期间也冒着生命危险坚守岗位。
“They said they’re taking me to Ghana. I said, ‘Ghana, what am I going to do there?’ I thought they told me I was going home.”Like Nnamdi, Kuyateh had been granted withholding of removal to her native Sierra Leone. She had spent more than 30 years working as a nurse in the U.S., even putting her own life on the line, working throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
“我打电话告诉他们的亲人，他们的生命即将走到尽头。我始终守在他们身边，直到他们咽下最后一口气，”她说，“我付出了那么多努力，可我觉得美国并没有给予我应有的回报。毕竟这里曾被我视为第二个家。我很小的时候就来到了美国，可从未受到公平对待。”其他被驱逐出境的移民也向MS NOW透露，他们抵达加纳后便被带至多哥边境，连任何证件都没拿到就被遗弃在那里。加纳官方则否认存在强制遣返行为，也否认美国利用加纳来规避本国司法程序。
“I made phone calls telling their loved ones that this is the end. I made sure I stood by them till they took their last breath,” she said. “I worked so hard, and I felt America didn’t pay me back like what I did to them. Especially after I considered that my second home. I went there when I was very young. I wasn’t treated right.”Other deportees told MS NOW they were taken to the Togo border upon arrival and dumped there with no documents. Ghanaian officials reject allegations of refoulement and that the U.S. is using Ghana to circumvent its own courts.
“强制移民绝非我们的政策，我们也不会替任何国家做这种‘脏活’，无论对方地位如何、国力强弱或财富多寡。这一点必须明确记录在案，”加纳总统发言人兼负责通信事务的国务部长费利克斯·夸凯·奥福苏说道。
“We don’t engage in forced migration as a policy, and we don’t do the dirty work of any country, no matter their status, their size or their wealth. That must be placed on record,” said Felix Kwakye Ofosu, spokesperson for the president of Ghana and minister of state in charge of communications.
奥福苏承认，被驱逐出境的移民在加纳的停留期限仅为90天，“到期后他们必须离开”，但他同时表示，那些能证明返回原籍国会面临生命危险的移民可在加纳申请难民身份。
Ofosu admitted deportees can only stay in Ghana for 90 days, and “after that, they have to go back,” but said those who can demonstrate returning to their countries of origin would put them at risk can apply for refugee status in Ghana.
“如果我们收到关于加纳安全官员实施虐待行为的可靠举报，我们会展开调查并采取相应措施。但据我所知，那些被遣返的人都受到了人道对待，目前也没有任何官方政策要求虐待他们或侵犯其权利，”他说道。他还补充称，政府正在调查那段涉及库亚特的视频。
“If we have verified reports of abuses on the part of Ghanaian security officials, we’ll look into them and take appropriate measures. But as far as I know, the people who have been brought in have been treated humanely, and there is no official policy to mistreat them or violate their rights,” he said, adding that the government was investigating the video featuring Kuyateh.
加纳外交部长塞缪尔·奥库泽托·阿布拉夸在本地电视台上承认，美国官员曾提出以加纳在移民问题上的合作为条件，给予签证及关税方面的优惠。几周后，华盛顿解除了对加纳的签证限制，恢复向加纳公民发放五年多次入境签证。
Ghana’s foreign minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has acknowledged on local television that U.S. officials raised the possibility of visa and tariff concessions in exchange for Ghana’s cooperation on immigration. Weeks later, Washington lifted visa restrictions on Ghana, restoring five-year multiple-entry visas for Ghanaians.
纳姆迪向MS NOW表示，凭借信仰，他依然坚信美国官员会让自己重返美国。一夜之间，他的妻子被迫成为全家唯一的经济支柱。这家人还创建了GoFundMe页面，以筹集资金维持生计。他坚信自己的被驱逐是个错误，而总统最终会予以纠正。
Through his faith, Nnamdi told MS NOW he remains hopeful U.S. officials will bring him back. Overnight, his wife was forced to become the sole breadwinner of the household. The family has created a GoFundMe page to help keep them afloat. He remains firm in his belief that his deportation was a mistake the president will ultimately rectify.
“我坚信美国梦。我信任美国人民。我相信任何听到这个故事的人都会支持我、为我发声，”他说道。
“I believe in the American dream. I believe in the American people. I believe that anyone who will hear this, they will be rooting for me. Will stand up for me,” he said. The post Trump’s deportation push sends Texas pastor to African nation he’s never visited MS NOW