A federal judge said the Trump administration violated his earlier order by sending eight migrants convicted of crimes to South Sudan, and he directed immediate action to protect their right to oppose deportation to a country gripped by years of violence.
US District Judge Brian Murphy concluded during a hearing Wednesday that the migrants didn’t get even a full day’s notice before their removal and grilled government lawyers over what to do about it as the men sat in an airplane on the tarmac in an unidentified location.
It marked the latest instance of judges finding US officials failed to fully comply with orders as they’ve pushed to swiftly carry out President Donald Trump’s hardline immigration policies. Murphy’s decision also teed up another legal fight over the president’s executive orders to potentially reach the US Supreme Court on an emergency basis.
The Boston-based judge had ruled in April that the administration could not deport migrants to a so-called “third country” — meaning a place that wasn’t their home nation or an alternative country ordered by an immigration judge — without notice and an opportunity to object. The Justice Department is appealing that decision.
In the meantime, lawyers who brought the case went back to the judge this week to protest that the planned removals to South Sudan violated his injunction. Murphy agreed and said he would take up later whether to hold government officials in criminal contempt of court.
“It’s impossible for these people to have a meaningful opportunity, for these people to object to their transfer to South Sudan,” he said. “Even 24 hours would be plainly insufficient.”
While Murphy acknowledged his initial order didn’t spell out how much time detainees should be given to object to deportation to a third country, “the department’s actions in this case are unquestionably violative of this court’s order.”
In a written order late Wednesday, the judge said six of the men must be interviewed about whether they have a “reasonable fear” for their safety and that their lawyers must be allowed to participate, remotely if not in person.
The US Department of Homeland Security said the eight migrants had been convicted of serious crimes, including murder, robbery and sexual assault. Todd Lyons, the acting director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services, said the men were deported to a “third safe country” after their home nations refused to take them back.
Lyons said that everyone in the group, which includes men from six nations, received a legal review and was afforded due process. He declined to name their current location or final destination.
At least one of the individuals is a South Sudanese national who has been convicted of robbery and possession of a firearm among other offenses, according to DHS. The others are from Vietnam, Myanmar, Cuba, Mexico and Laos.
The case highlights concerns that the Trump administration is circumventing due process in its rush to deport migrants — in some cases to countries they’re not from and where they face risks. It’s part of a broader strategy in which US officials have negotiated secretive third-country deportations, such as the transfer of Venezuelans to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador.
On Tuesday night, Murphy ordered the government to “maintain custody” of the group of migrants amid concerns they were being removed to a country where they’re not citizens — potentially violating US law and court orders requiring migrants be notified of deportation plans in a language they understand.
Tricia McLaughlin, a DHS spokeswoman, described the deportation flight as a “diplomatic and military security operation” and criticized Murphy’s ruling. “While we are fully compliant with the law and court orders, it is absolutely absurd for a district judge to try to dictate the foreign policy and national security of the United States of America,” McLaughlin told reporters Wednesday.
“Thanks to the courageous work of the State Department and ICE and the president’s national security team, we found a nation that was willing to accept custody of these vicious illegal aliens,” McLaughlin said, while declining to name that country.
Earlier this month, Murphy blocked the deportation of some of the same group of men to Libya. He said the plan to send them to that country violated an April ruling ordering the government to give migrants notices in their native languages and a chance to fight being sent to a nation that they don’t come from.
Jonathan Ryan, a lawyer representing a man from Myanmar, said his client was initially told on Monday that he would be sent to South Africa. Hours later, ICE officials said he would actually be taken to South Sudan, which has long been plagued by violence and civil strife.
“The exposure of an individual’s criminal record does not and should not alter the fundamental requirement that due process be upheld,” Ryan said Wednesday. “Our legal system is built on the principle that rights are not reserved only for the innocent or the well-liked.”
The Trump administration has been working with multiple nations to deport people whose own countries won’t quickly take them back. In March, more than 200 Venezuelan men were flown to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador under the rarely used Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The Supreme Court has temporarily blocked additional deportations to El Salvador, citing legal challenges.
Stephen Miller, a senior Trump adviser who has spearheaded many of the administration’s most hardline immigration policies, said earlier this month that the administration was considering whether to suspend certain rights, including habeas corpus, for migrants challenging deportation.
South Sudan became a country in 2011 but has faced war and unrest ever since. A 2023 US government report described widespread human rights violations in South Sudan.
The US currently extends Temporary Protected Status to about 155 South Sudanese nationals who are allowed to live and work in the US. The designation, first granted in 2011, has been extended multiple times due to ongoing violence. Earlier this month, protections were automatically renewed after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem failed to formally act on the program.
With assistance from Kate Sullivan.
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