Sekou Nkrumah deported from USA

• Posted on December 16, 2014December 16, 2014
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

Information reaching DAILY GUIDE indicates that controversial son of Ghana’s first president, Sekou Nkrumah, has been deported from the United States of America.

Even though attempts to get a response from the former boss of the National Youth Authority (NYA) with calls and text messages to his phone proved unsuccessful, sources at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) told DAILY GUIDE that he travelled to the United States last Saturday on board a Delta airline flight.

But even before Sekou could set foot on American soil, he was held by security officials and put on the next available flight back home to Ghana.

Report suggests that although Sekou had a permanent resident permit (green card), an immigration status of a person authorised to live and work in the US permanently, it had been dormant for a while because of his absence from the US for a very long period.

This, according to our source, was because he had not used the green card issued to him for a long time and could not have been allowed into that country since holders are required to maintain permanent resident status, and can be removed from the United States if certain conditions of this status are not met.

On arrival at KIA, Sekou was said to have been handed to the Ghanaian security authorities who debriefed him and later asked him to go home.

Under certain conditions, permanent residence status can be lost involuntarily, including committing a criminal act that makes a person removable from the United States.

Checks by DAILY GUIDE have also established that a person might be found to have abandoned his/her status if he or she moves to another country to live there permanently, stays outside the USA for more than 365 days (without getting a re-entry permit before leaving), or does not file an income tax return on their worldwide income.

That, according to the source, could have possibly been the case of Sekou Nkrumah, leading to his immediate deportation.

Further checks have revealed that permanent residence status in the US can also be lost if it is found that the application or grounds for obtaining permanent residence was fraudulent.

The failure to renew the permanent residence card does not result in the loss of status, except in the case of conditional permanent residents as noted above.

A person who loses permanent residence status is immediately removable from the United States and must leave the country as soon as possible or face deportation and removal.

In some cases, the person may be banned from entering the country for three or seven years, or even permanently.

By Charles Takyi-Boadu