A Long Trip Home

The first time immigration officers tried to deport Michel Shango, he avoided going back to Congo by slamming his head against the van that was to have taken him from the Atlanta city jail to the airport. He told guards he was afraid that he would be killed if he went back. Three months later, in February 2007, he was involuntarily sedated with a heavy dose of powerful psychotropic drugs so that his second deportation attempt would go smoothly. Here is a timeline of his trip home, based on a log filled out by a U.S. public health nurse who was his medical escort. Excerpts of the log are below.