CBS News’ “60 Minutes” aired an episode focused on a man who was deported to Ghana under President Donald Trump’s deportation efforts, but the Department of Homeland Security says the network cut out quite a bit.
DHS General Counsel James Percival, who was interviewed for the broadcast, shared a series of clips that were ultimately left out of the final cut. He suggested that those particular bits were left out specifically to further a predetermined narrative: that the average illegal immigrant was just like Moussa Diawara, just a “Texas father” who followed the law — with the obvious exception of that visa he overstayed by 25 years.
“I talked to @60Minutes for nearly an hour. In our conversation, we talked about the vicious killers and rapists we are removing to third countries and the fact that no President before President Trump removed these public safety threats from our community. Unfortunately, as they always do, they selectively edited the video and included none of that. They did promise they would publish the entire interview, so I look forward to my comments being posted in full this week,” Percival posted on Sunday.
Diawara, 57, described himself as gay and said he feared persecution over both his sexual orientation and his conversion to Christianity if he ever returned to his home country of Mali. He was deported to Ghana over the summer because a judge barred his deportation to Mali. Once in Ghana, however, officials reportedly forced him onto a flight to his home country.
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The first clip from the “60 Minutes” interview focused on third country deportations — which take place when the United States moves to deport people when there is a court order or some other barrier to returning them to their countries of origin. Because the third countries are not bound by U.S. court orders, there is no way to guarantee that the third country will not return the individuals to their country of origin once they have left U.S. jurisdiction.
“60 Minutes” contributor Gianna Toboni asked Percival to address that particular issue, wondering why the United States would move ahead with such deportations if the third country in question could return someone to a country where their physical safety might be at risk.
“You can kind of see why @60Minutes left stuff like this on the cutting room floor,” Percival captioned the clip.
You can kind of see why @60Minutes left stuff like this on the cutting room floor. https://t.co/w5L4jEbdJl
— James Percival (@DHSGenCounsel) October 27, 2026
“I guess one thing that I would point out — are you suggesting that when these people went to their home countries that they were persecuted or tortured?” Percival asked.
“I’m not suggesting that, a U.S. judge said that,” Toboni replied. “A federal judge said that.”
“That they were persecuted or tortured when they went to their home country?” Percival asked again.
“That they were more than likely to be tortured or persecuted if they were returned to their home country,” Toboni clarified.
Percival kept pressing, pointing out the fact that with or without a judge’s order, if the people in question had not actually been tortured or persecuted when they returned to their home countries, then the actions taken by the third country were not necessarily out of line.
In a second clip, Toboni questioned the number of deportation orders carried out despite the small percentage of those who were being deported based on convictions or charges of “violent crimes.” Percival responded by pointing out just how many horrible crimes — from distribution of child pornography to heroin trafficking — that most people would say warranted deportation but would not officially be classified as “violent.”
More good stuff that @60Minutes did not include. https://t.co/XCwAwXtC3m
— James Percival (@DHSGenCounsel) October 27, 2026
Toboni kept at that angle, noting that only 2% of those being deported had murder or rape charges or convictions. Percival asked why the U.S. government would only hold murderers and rapists accountable.
“Everyone has to follow the law. It’s not an excuse to say I’m not going to follow the law because I haven’t raped or killed anybody,” Percival continued, also noting that most people who committed petty crimes ultimately committed other crimes — and because all crimes committed by illegal aliens in the United States are preventable crimes, his job was to prevent those crimes by having those people removed from the United States altogether.
A conversation with @60Minutes on rapists and murderers, which they declined to include. https://t.co/XjUs7uDzj3
— James Percival (@DHSGenCounsel) October 27, 2026
The full interview can be viewed here.
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