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Brazilian woman deported to Liberia after 15 months in ICE detention describes ordeal

Sep 15, 2026·Location: MA

Country of origin: Brazil

Brazilian woman deported to Liberia after 15 months in ICE detention describes ordeal
Photo via CBS News

Paola Ferreira Dos Santos, a 21-year-old Brazilian woman who crossed into the U.S. in 2021 and worked cleaning construction sites in Massachusetts, was detained by ICE in 2025 after the car she was riding in to work was pursued by agents. Over 15 months she was moved through detention facilities in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Texas and Louisiana before being placed on a 16-hour restrained flight without being told her destination, arriving in Monrovia and being told, 'Welcome to Liberia. You're in Africa.' She was the only woman among a group of Latin American deportees sent under a U.S. agreement allowing Liberia to accept up to 1,200 deportees, and attorneys have told her it is now effectively impossible for her to return to the U.S. Dos Santos described detention conditions as psychological torture, saying detainees, including pregnant women, were denied medical care, and recounted a woman being bound at the hands and ankles after asking about her separated son, saying 'they tied her like she was cattle.' She also described being held for days without beds in a frigid room detainees called 'the freezer.'

Timeline

Sep 15, 2026—Recounted detention conditions and deportation experience in interview
Aug 20, 2026—Deported on a flight to Liberia after 15 months in detention, learning destination only upon landing in Monrovia
Jan 1, 2025—Detained by ICE agents after car she was riding in to work was pursued
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