U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported Mohan Karki, 30, to Bhutan on Jan. 13, following his detention nine months prior. The deportation was carried out based on a 2014 removal order connected to a 2013 criminal conviction in Georgia. Karki, who was born in a refugee camp in Nepal to parents of Bhutanese origin, has never lived in Bhutan. His wife and infant daughter remain in Ohio.
Karki’s family was among thousands of ethnic Nepali-speaking people who were forced out of Bhutan in the 1990s. He was born and raised in a refugee camp in Nepal before his family was resettled in the United States in 2011 as part of a U.S. government program.
In February 2013, at age 17, Karki was arrested in Georgia and charged with burglary, criminal trespassing, and interference with government property. According to court transcripts reviewed by The Guardian, the case did not proceed to trial. Karki accepted a plea deal.
Brian Hoffman, Karki’s immigration attorney, stated that for immigration purposes, certain state-level crimes can be classified as “aggravated felonies,” which can trigger mandatory detention and deportation. Following the conviction, an immigration judge ordered Karki’s removal from the U.S. in August 2014. He was initially detained but later released under an order of supervision after neither Bhutan nor Nepal agreed to accept him, according to court documents.
Under the supervision order, Karki was required to check in regularly with ICE and was granted work authorization. He later relocated to Ohio, where he married Tika Basnet in December 2023.
On April 8, 2025, Karki was taken into custody during a routine ICE check-in near Columbus. Basnet, his wife, said that an agent informed them the decision came from higher authorities and that Bhutan had issued travel documents. According to The Guardian, which reviewed the documents, Bhutan has accepted some deportees with a “non-Bhutanese” designation. The significance of this designation on an individual’s legal status within Bhutan is not specified.
After legal challenges, including a denied habeas petition, Karki was deported. He stated that upon his arrival in Bhutan, officials offered him a choice between prison or being taken to the Indian border. His current legal status is stateless.
Human rights and legal advocacy groups have commented on his case and similar deportations. Aisa Villarosa, an attorney with the Asian Law Caucus, noted a recent change in removal practices concerning Bhutanese refugees and indicated the organization is seeking more information through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request about any agreements between the U.S. and Bhutan.
John Sifton, the Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, said that Bhutan is not a country where deported refugees can legally remain and that they are often left without nationality. Sifton stated this practice contradicts previous U.S. policy regarding the safety of the region for this population.
The United Nations refugee agency also issued a statement clarifying that deported Bhutanese refugees remain legally stateless because Bhutan does not recognize them as citizens. The Department of Homeland Security and ICE did not respond to The Guardian’s requests for comment on the matter.
 deported Mohan Karki to Bhutan on Jan. 13 based on a 2013 conviction. Karki, born in a Nepal refugee camp, faces statelessness. Advocacy groups voice concerns.){kind=link}