In a bizarre post, the official X account for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) referred to a man taken into custody as “fake & gay” on Monday, October 26. This came after Fox News national correspondent Brooke Taylor shared an exclusive from the network about Moussa Diawara, who was deported to Mali. 60 Minutes aired its own report on Diawara Sunday, October 25.
Taylor’s post caught the attention of whoever runs ICE’s X account.
Taylor originally wrote, “60 Minutes featured a deported Malian national whose wife and two children spoke about how much they miss him and want him home. But we exclusively obtained Moussa Diawara’s asylum application, where he said he was seeking asylum in the U.S. because he was gay and feared being killed if sent back. Now, DHS is pointing to his case as an example of alleged immigration fraud.”
ICE reposted this, writing, “Fake & Gay! Moussa Diawara, the Malian national featured in this shockingly poorly researched @60Minutes report, now faces allegations of immigration FRAUD after his asylum application surfaced, revealing that he claimed to be a HOMOSEXUAL man who feared persecution in Mali.”
What we know about Moussa Diawara
Diawara was initially deported to Ghana, a country he reportedly has no connection to. He immigrated to the US, where he got married and has two children.
CBS News reported that in 2012, an immigration judge in the US said that it would be unsafe to deport Diawara to Mali.
“As a result of the ruling, Diawara was able to get a U.S. work permit,” the news organization explained. “He worked as an Uber driver and was finishing a night shift on July 11 of this year when he found ICE agents waiting for him at the suburban Houston home where he lived with his wife and children, who are U.S. citizens.”
Diawara was detained in Texas for three weeks, and then deported to Ghana on July 31.