Trump Administration Sent a Somali Man With No Criminal Record to Guantanamo, He Says

In late August 2026, the administration flew 12 Somali immigrants, including Sakariye Abdi Mohamed, to an ICE facility at Guantanamo Bay. Mohamed told Mother Jones he was not told the destination, calling it "just like kidnapping," and said he has no criminal record or even traffic tickets. ICE deported him to Somalia weeks later, shackled, he says, for nearly 40 hours.

Mother Jones found no evidence Mohamed had been accused of wrongdoing. DHS denied mistreating Guantanamo detainees, calling the Somali men sent there "some of the worst of the worst," but did not answer follow-up questions on his specific claims.

The account rests on one man's testimony as reported by a single outlet and is not independently corroborated; records for the other 11 men sent with him are unknown.