The Trump administration violated a federal court order to deport immigrants. There, they are deportees to countries they have no connection to without giving them the opportunity to challenge their removal, a federal judge in Boston said Wednesday.
Federal officials confirmed that eight immigrants with serious criminal records were deported on flights to third countries on Tuesday. However, they refused to publicly say where the men were being taken. The lawyer said the plane was heading towards South Sudan, which was ravaged by the conflict.
Massachusetts US District Judge Brian E. Murphy said immigrants from Myanmar, Vietnam, Cuba, South Sudan and Mexico have no “meaning opportunities” that have nothing to do with African countries that have links, opposed to court orders last month. The judge said he would later decide what the punishment for the administration, if any.
The decision was sent to South Sudan along with other Asians at a hearing that considered an emergency motion filed by lawyers after the client learned.
A U.S. government lawyer said detainees have enough time to raise fear of harm, along with immigration officers at the detention center, if sent to a third country. And the man needed 24 hours of notification before being deleted.
But Murphy balked it. The time between the man being told he was deported Monday evening was about 17 hours when the plane took off, which the judge speculated that it was “clearly insufficient.”
He said the action “are undoubtedly violates this court order.”
Later that night, Murphy issued an order instructing the government to provide three-day notice to detainees before an interview with reasonable fear of safety in a “third country.” He also requested that officials provide access to lawyers, telephones, interpreters and ways of receiving documents.
Jacqueline Brown, a lawyer representing Myanmar detainees, said he had no chance to speak to his client before he was taken away.
“The reason for the notification is that we can afford a legitimate procedure,” she said. “He was unable to present the fear of being tortured in South Sudan. When given notice, he didn't even have an interpreter.” The removal order was in English, a language he didn't speak often.
The man was still sitting on the plane Wednesday morning during Pacific time, according to government officials who described the court.
Tom Cartwright, who tracks immigration and customs enforcement flights, posted X a plane that appears to carry eight forced repatriation countries landed in Djibouti, about 900 miles from South Sudan's capital Juba. Biden's appointee, Murphy, asked the government if it was feasible to conduct interviews with men in custody to determine whether they have credible horror claims, as required by court orders.
The administration, with the exception of most procedures, is doubling its efforts to eliminate immigration to countries where they are not involved, ignore court orders and test the limits of executive power.
At a press conference Wednesday, a Department of Homeland Security official said South Sudan is not the “final destination” for the eight immigrants who were removed from the US a day ago, despite the lawyer's declaration and “removal orders.” Officials said immigrants have a criminal history, a threat to public safety and are unacceptable by their home countries.
“Because of safety and operational security, we cannot tell you what these individuals' final destinations are,” said Secretary of Public Service Tricia McLaughlin.
On Tuesday, Murphy ordered the Trump administration to maintain custody of immigrants.
“Although the court leaves the practicality of compliance with the defendant's discretion,” Murphy wrote, referring to Christy Noem and our Atty, the Department of Homeland Security. General Pam Bondy, “The court expects that members of the class will be treated humanely.”
McLaughlin said immigrants remain in homeland security custody. She said the agency was following due process laws and added that detainees and their attorneys “have a lot of advance notices.”
Documents provided to reporters from the Department of Homeland Security show that detainees included one citizen of South Sudan and seven citizens from four other countries. They were convicted of crimes including murder, attempted murder, robbery, lewd conduct with a child under the age of 12, and sexual assault involving a victim who is mentally and physically unsupported, according to federal officials.
The press conference was titled “DHS Press Conference on Immigrant Flights to South Sudan,” but McLaughlin said the State Department had mediated an agreement with a “country” that is willing to accept detainees.
Officials stressed that the detainees' origins refused to retrieve them.
“As a career law enforcement officer and career officer at ICE, I have dealt with these mysterious countries for years,” said Todd Lyons, Director of Customs Enforcement. “We have to see repeated killers, sex offenders, violent offenders, and re-released to the US as our homeland won't get them back.”
Asked if South Sudan is considered a safe third country, Lyon was postponed to the State Department, which did not immediately respond to an emailed list of questions.
A travel advisory issued by the department warns US travelers not to visit. “Armative conflicts between various political and ethnic groups continue across the country,” he says, saying that lures, road ambushing, armed robberies, murders and domestic invasions are “wide-far.”
A group of immigrants held in Texas this month, including some of the same detainees, were told they were deported to Libya and taken to planes.
According to the State Department, North Africa's politically unstable countries are plagued by “terrorism, unexploded zones, civil unrest, incitement and armed conflict.” Human rights groups document inhumane conditions in detention facilities and immigration camps, including torture, forced labor and rape.
The lawyers who filed the emergency motion said their clients were from Myanmar, the other from Vietnam, and the police officers at the Port Isabel Detention Centre in Los Fresnos, Texas, were notified on Monday and would be moved to South Africa. The man refused to sign the order, court records show. The officers quickly retreated, but returned on another order saying they would be taken to South Sudan. Again, the man didn't sign it. The next morning their lawyers and their family were unable to find them, according to court documents.
A Myanmar man who spoke Karen's regional language received a final order from Nebraska, home to around 8,000 refugees from Myanmar, ruled by a military dictatorship. Many of the refugees come from minorities of the Karen people who fled the long-term civil war.
His lawyers identified him as NM in court documents. Federal officials identified one of the Myanmar detainees as NYO Myint and said they were convicted of “first-degree sexual assault involving victims who are unable to resist mentally and physically.”
The Vietnamese had signed an order to be deported to his hometown, not in a third country, according to an email from his spouse to an attorney included in the court file. Federal officials have identified one of the detainees as Vietnamese. TuanThanhPhan, “convicted of first-degree murder and second-degree attack.”
“Please help me!” the spouse said in an email. “They can't allow this. This is not the first, and it's not the last if they keep running away with this. I'm looking for your help.”
“The detention centre is inhumane and crowded, and the ice sends as many people as possible to combat overcrowding. This is not right.”
