Why Nana Ama McBrown was deported from the United States and slapped with a visa ban
Ghanaian actress and media personality, Nana Ama McBrown, has made a heartfelt appeal to the United States Embassy in Accra to lift the visa ban imposed on her more than two decades ago.
The ban stems from an incident in the early 2000s when she was deported from the United States after attempting to enter the country using a fake passport.
In a recent interview on Starr FM, McBrown opened up about the incident, revealing that her uncle, Papa Kofi McBrown, had orchestrated the trip in an effort to help her pursue opportunities in the United States due to her talents.
However, she admitted that she did not attend a visa interview at the US Embassy and only realized the severity of the situation after she was arrested upon arrival in the US.
“He brought whatever documents with me to travel,” McBrown confessed, explaining that the passport bore a striking resemblance to her. “I was 22 or 23 years old… This was around the year 1999 or 2000,” she recounted. “I got there and got arrested at the airport and was deported… When they brought me back I was so sad, and I did not know that they had done that (used a fake passport). I went alone, and my uncle is now dead, that is why I am speaking on this.”
Now, years later, the celebrated actress is seeking to correct the mistakes of her past and is urging the US Embassy to reconsider her situation in light of her current standing and genuine intentions.
“I’ll beg them to please reconsider me, look at my records, I am not a bad person. I’ve never been a bad person because I really know what I’ve done and I want to correct it,” McBrown pleaded.
During the interview, McBrown also addressed the anxiety many Ghanaians experience when applying for visas, noting that this often leads to dishonesty in their applications. She encouraged her fellow citizens to approach the visa process with honesty, stressing that modern systems now keep permanent records of all details, including fingerprints.
“Now, if you’re going to the embassy, things have changed. Our details, fingerprints, everything is there. So we should do things right. I will say to everybody: go genuinely. Because the records will be there forever. And if you keep lying, it will go against you,” she advised.