MINNESOTA, United States — A 31-year-old Somali man living in Minnesota has been transferred to the US military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to local media reports.
Adan Abdullah said federal immigration officers detained him in December as the administration of President Donald Trump stepped up efforts to deport Somali migrants who lacked valid travel documents. He said the officers did not show him a warrant or explain why he was being detained.
Abdullah arrived in the United States in 2023 as an asylum seeker and later obtained work authorization and a Social Security number. He worked as an auto mechanic, while a search of Minnesota court records reportedly found no criminal convictions, apart from two parking tickets issued in early 2025.
He said authorities transferred him between detention facilities in Minnesota, Kentucky and Louisiana before telling him he would be deported to Somalia via Miami. Instead, he was taken to Guantanamo Bay, where he says he has been held for nearly two weeks.
Abdullah said he is among eight Somali detainees being held at the facility, several of whom were arrested in the Twin Cities area. The US government has not publicly explained why Abdullah or the other Somali detainees were transferred to Guantanamo Bay.
The case has raised questions over the use of the US military facility for immigration detainees and the legal basis for transferring migrants there. Abdullah’s account could not be independently verified, and further details about his legal status and the circumstances of his transfer were not immediately available.
