In what has been called a bizarre turn of events, a plane bound for Somalia carrying deportees, including two Twin Cities men, returned to the United States on Friday, landing in Miami.
One of the passengers told his St. Paul attorney that the plane ran out of food, the bathrooms were too full to be used and that, overall, he and the other passengers remained shackled for a total of 46 hours before the plane returned to the United States.
Immigration lawyer Kim Hunter said her client, Abdoulmalik Ibrahim, called her collect Sunday and told her about the flight that had originated in Louisiana on Thursday.
According to a statement released by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office, the flight, containing 92 deportees, turned around after stopping in Senegal to refuel.
“Upon landing for a refueling and pilot exchange at Dakar, Senegal, ICE was notified that the relief crew was unable to get sufficient crew rest due to issues with their hotel in Dakar,” the statement said. “The aircraft, including the detainees and crew on board, remained parked at the airport to allow the relief crew time to rest. During this time, the aircraft maintained power and air conditioning, and was stocked with sufficient food and water. Various logistical options were explored, and ultimately ICE decided to reschedule the mission to Somalia and return to the United States with all 92 detainees.”
Along with Ibrahim, another Twin Cities man, Abdihakim Mohamed, was on the flight.
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Immigration lawyers with Kim Hunter Law group in St. Paul had been working to stop the men’s deportations until the men could obtain due process. On Saturday morning, Hunter called the plane’s return “bizarre” but said it might ultimately benefit the men’s cases to reopen them.
“Any additional time these men get in the United States is beneficial as it gives the agency more time to decide on motions to reopen” their cases, attorney Kim Hunter said.
Hunter said Saturday morning that her office was able to verify that the men’s flight had definitely landed in Miami and that her two clients were being processed at the Krome Detention Center. It was unclear if they would remain at that facility, she said.
Ibrahim told Hunter that passengers were told the plane was stopped in Senegal for 18 hours because the crew was waiting for a part to arrive from the United States.
After spending the night on the tarmac, they were told the part had arrived and they would leave for Djibouti in about four hours. Later, they were told that they had lost the “landing window” to land in Djibouti, Hunter said. Passengers were told that it would take another 24 hours on the ground before they could attempt the flight to Djibouti again or they could, instead, return to the United States, she said.
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Many passengers didn’t want to head back to the United States, Hunter said, because it would mean returning to prison. But the flight landed in Miami around midnight Friday, she said. It wasn’t until four a.m. that passengers had a chance to sleep, she said.
Meanwhile, Hunter continues to hope that motions to reopen her client’s cases will be approved.
“These are men who have faith in the system and had faith that criminal aliens would be the priority for deportation, and so for them and their family, this has been a shock to be deported to a country they haven’t lived in for some 20 years and one that is firmly in the grip of a terrorist organization,” Hunter said.
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Ibrahim, a father of four who is married to a permanent U.S. resident, worked as a cardiovascular technician at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. He has a misdemeanor offense years ago for criminal property damage, Hunter said. He’d made regular check-ins with ICE for the past 15 years, she said. However, when he did so in September, he never came home. Eventually, his family learned he had been detained by the office and would be deported, she said.
Mohamed faced a similar situation when he checked in with ICE. Mohamed, who worked as a personal care attendant, has no criminal record, Hunter said.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Minnesota was closed for the weekend and could not be reached for a comment.
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