Nine Sierra Leonean nationals remain listed on the updated US “Worst of the Worst” criminal aliens database, as the Department of Homeland Security expands its public record of individuals facing immigration enforcement.
The latest update to the database maintained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) brings the total number of West African nationals featured to 427. Each entry includes a photograph and details of criminal charges or convictions. DHS describes those listed as among the most serious criminal offenders subject to immigration enforcement.
Sierra Leone accounts for nine of the individuals. This is a sharp drop from an earlier figure of 26 Sierra Leoneans named on the list in June 2026, when the West African total stood at around 355–374. At that time, the Sierra Leone entries included allegations of homicide, burglary, domestic violence, sexual offences, rape, kidnapping, armed robbery, fraud, forgery, drug trafficking, identity theft and assault on police officers. Specific names previously reported included Mariama Kanu (homicide and burglary, arrested in Minneapolis), Hassan Jalloh (domestic violence and abduction, Lebanon, Ohio), Salifu Kanu (sex offence, Alden, New York) and others.
Nigeria continues to top the West African breakdown with 134 individuals, followed by Liberia with 111 and Ghana with 44 (up from 32 after the addition of 12 more nationals). Other countries include Cape Verde (26), Senegal (22), Côte d’Ivoire and The Gambia (15 each), Mauritania (12), Burkina Faso and Niger (10 each), Sierra Leone (9), Togo (7), Guinea (6), Mali (5), and Guinea-Bissau and Benin (1 each).
Offences documented across the wider database include fraud, identity theft, money laundering, robbery, drug-related charges, sexual offences and immigration crimes.
The “Worst of the Worst” website (wow.dhs.gov), launched in December 2025, forms part of intensified immigration enforcement under the Trump administration. It publicly highlights non-citizens with criminal records who have been arrested by ICE and are subject to removal proceedings. The overall site has grown substantially through multiple updates, with DHS adding thousands of entries at a time.
This development comes against the backdrop of broader US–Sierra Leone migration cooperation. Sierra Leone has accepted third-country deportees from the United States under a diplomatic arrangement reached in early 2026. The deal allows for up to 300 ECOWAS nationals per year (capped at 25 per month), supported by a US$1.5 million grant. The first flight arrived in Freetown in May 2026 carrying nine West African migrants (from Ghana, Guinea, Senegal and Nigeria); additional transfers followed in subsequent months. Sierra Leone has also faced a US entry suspension for its nationals, cited by Washington over identity-management issues and prior cooperation on deportations.
The updated database underscores continued US focus on removing individuals with serious criminal records while highlighting Sierra Leone’s relatively smaller but still notable presence among West African countries on the list.
