Wrongly deported Arizona man left in Equatorial Guinea, despite U.S. flight arrival

For Tucson residents, the case of Ahmed Soliman is unfolding in federal court just down the road, where a judge is demanding answers from the U.S. government about why an Arizona man remains imprisoned in Equatorial Guinea after officials failed to place him on a government contracted flight that actually landed there Friday. Soliman, 31, grew up in Phoenix after his family fled Egypt when he was 4. His attorneys say he was unlawfully deported in April and has been detained abroad ever since, even though he has not been accused of committing a crime in Equatorial Guinea.

The dispute centers on conflicting sworn statements from immigration officials. In a court filing, ICE deportation officer Andrea Chiriboga Villacis said a flight to Equatorial Guinea had been canceled and therefore could not be used to bring Soliman back to the United States. But flight records and documentation reviewed by journalist Gillian Brockell, who tracks ICE deportation flights, showed that a Boeing 767 landed in Malabo, the country’s capital, Friday and remained there for several hours before leaving. People in Equatorial Guinea also confirmed that the aircraft arrived.

Soliman’s lawyers rushed to file a request seeking to stop the plane from departing without him. They identified the aircraft by its tail number, N703KW, and said it was carrying dozens of people being deported to Africa. Their filing stated that 25 passengers were headed to Equatorial Guinea as part of third country removals, meaning they had no connection to the country. That account appears to conflict with a later statement by ICE official Fernando Valenzuela, who said the aircraft’s stop was only intended to return two Equatorial Guinea nationals.

Valenzuela acknowledged that the plane had landed but said Soliman could not board because ICE had not completed his parole request or issued a transportation letter. He wrote that the aircraft was operating on a scheduled mission and could not wait for those administrative steps. The explanation came more than two weeks after U.S. District Judge John C. Hinderaker ordered the government to locate Soliman and facilitate his return, citing the “unlawful” nature of his deportation and the continuing, irreparable harm he was suffering overseas.

Hinderaker responded Friday by ordering the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department to explain the discrepancy. At the time of his order, the judge did not yet know that the aircraft had already departed without Soliman. He emphasized that affidavits are sworn statements made under penalty of perjury and said any explanation must come from officials with personal knowledge. The judge also questioned why officials could not expedite Soliman’s paperwork and place him on the aircraft if a government contracted plane was on the ground in Malabo.

The case is also testing the government’s response to the judge’s original return order. The government filed an emergency request with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals seeking to pause that order while it challenges it. Hinderaker has said he retains jurisdiction unless the appeals court grants the requested stay. Soliman’s attorney Dana Camilleri said the government would have to show that returning her client would cause irreparable harm and that leaving him in Equatorial Guinea serves the public interest. She argued that officials have not acted in good faith, noting that it took them about two weeks to contact the U.S. Embassy in Malabo about his case.

Soliman’s lawyers have known for weeks that he was being held at the decommissioned Hotel Bamy in Malabo, after earlier confinement in a jail cell. The U.S. government nevertheless said in sworn filings that it was still trying to locate him as recently as Oct. 19. After Hinderaker demanded an explanation and ordered officials to document their progress within 24 hours, ICE and the Justice Department contacted attorney Lucas Olo Fernandes, asking where Soliman was and whom they should reach at the embassy. Fernandes, who was born in Equatorial Guinea and works with a Spain based human rights organization, said the request was strange because U.S. officials should already know where people deported to the country are being held.

The reported conditions make the delay especially urgent. Soliman has been hospitalized twice since his removal, and his attorneys say his health remains dire based on information from people in the country. They also say he was hurt in a car crash while being taken back to the hotel from jail. Other U.S. deportees held at Hotel Bamy have reportedly faced physical assaults, threats involving guns, and shortages of basic necessities. On Sept. 9, Equatorial Guinea authorities seized the phones of dozens of detainees. The Star reported Soliman’s confinement at the hotel in August.

Accounts from other deportees show that Soliman’s situation is part of a broader and increasingly visible practice of sending migrants to African countries with which they have no ties. Brayan Omar Sánchez, a Honduran man, described being transferred through detention centers in Miami, Denver, Phoenix and Texas before being flown to the Central African Republic. He said officials threatened detainees with beatings if they refused to board, and that armed officers used handcuffs and riot shields during the transfer. Sánchez and other migrants described a roughly 22 hour journey, with layovers in Senegal and Nigeria, limited food and water, and shackles around their hands, feet and waists.

Sánchez now lives in an apartment in Bangui, where he shares a room and faces frequent power outages, mosquitoes, language barriers and uncertainty about how to leave. Cuban deportees traveling with him described being detained despite having no criminal convictions, then taken to Africa without knowing what would happen. Their accounts include allegations that local authorities gave them injections without explaining what they were and transported them from the airport at night. Back in Arizona, Soliman’s lawyers are pressing the Tucson court for immediate action, while federal officials have offered little public explanation. DHS responded only that it complies with lawful court orders, and the State Department issued a general statement about opposing illegal immigration and strengthening border security.