The Trump administration criticized a CBS News “60 Minutes” segment Monday, arguing that the program omitted a key detail behind the deportation of a Malian national to a third country.
According to the “60 Minutes” report, Moussa Diawara is a married father of two who was deported to Ghana in July, more than a decade after overstaying a tourist visa. He later sought refugee status, which prevented his return to Mali.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the program left out what it described as an “absurd bit of fraud” in Diawara’s asylum application: his claim that he is gay.
“This illegal alien is [60 Minutes’] poster child for what it claims are wrongful deportations,” DHS General Counsel James Percival wrote on X after the segment aired.
Percival reviewed Diawara’s immigration file and noted that he is married to a woman. “His claimed reason for fearing Mali was that he is ‘gay,’ just in case you’re wondering how bad the immigration fraud problem is,” Percival wrote.
DHS said an immigration judge issued Diawara’s final order of removal in 2012. The department also reiterated that he claimed in his asylum application that he would face persecution because of his homosexuality if returned to Mali, despite being married to a woman with whom he has two children.
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“DHS removed this illegal to a third country that provided diplomatic assurances for his safety,” the department posted on X. “[60 Minutes] left this absurd bit of fraud out of their ‘Texas dad’ segment.”
In an asylum application obtained by Fox News, Diawara wrote that “since I came to the USA I had the possibilities to express my feelings to men without any embarrassment no reserve.”
“Although I was born as a boy, but things appeared differently for me as I was already having female behaviors and feelings,” he wrote. “I was more comfortable being intimate with boys rather than with girls.”
During the “60 Minutes” segment, Diawara alleged that authorities in Ghana forced him onto a flight to Mali within days of his arrival in the West African country.
“[H]e was homeless and hiding in Mali, fearing for his safety,” CBS News said of Diawara’s circumstances when the network interviewed him in August.
The outlet reported that Diawara escaped to another country with help from local truckers after spending several weeks in Mali. He asked CBS News not to identify the country, citing concerns for his safety.
