The judge says the Trump administration violated a court order

The Eight Men Embedded in South Sudan: Why They Aren’t There, and Why They Can’t Go Back to South Sudan

The judge said that the government violated his court order by deporting migrants to countries without giving them enough time to contest their removal.

According to McLaughlin, the eight men might not have ended up in South Sudan. The State Department doubled down on their claim of following court orders when asked about third-country negotiations.

“The department’s actions in this case are unquestionably violative of this court’s order. Murphy said during the Wednesday hearing that the question of whether the violation implicates criminal obstruction is a question that can be resolved for another day. “Based on what I have learned, I don’t see how anybody could say that these individuals had a meaningful opportunity to object.”

At least seven men remained aboard the plane somewhere abroad, as the court hearing in Boston proceeded on Wednesday, with the federal judge grappling with their fate.

The Trump administration earlier doubled down on its decision to send migrants to countries that aren’t their own following a legal challenge. It has tried to remove individuals that cannot be sent back to their country of origin for a variety of reasons.

The people on the flight out of the U.S were convicted of crimes in the US and were not able to return to their home countries.

“We found a nation who was willing to take custody of these vicious illegal aliens,” said Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, about the Asian men on the flight. “Now, a local judge in Massachusetts is trying to force the United States to bring back these uniquely barbaric monsters who present a clear and present threat to the safety of the American people and American victims.”

Murphy made the order after immigration lawyers filed an emergency motion saying that their client was given no notice prior to being put on a plane to South Sudan.

Jonathan Ryan, a lawyer with the legal nonprofit Advokato, told NPR that what is striking is the complete lack of information the group is working with. Ryan doesn’t know his client’s full name or criminal record, but he knows him as “N.M.”, and he believes he was sent to South Sudan.

They spoke briefly on May 16, but N.M. does not speak English. Ryan began looking for an interpreter, but by the next day, was informed his client had been moved to another facility, further away. In the second phone call, despite background noise and his clients broken English, he could see that his client had been given paperwork, which he refused to sign.

By Monday afternoon, Ryan was perplexed when he received an email from ICE saying his client was being sent to South Africa. He got a notification from ICE that his client would be going to South Sudan.

Government officials in a late-Tuesday hearing said that ultimately N.M. was being sent to Burma, even after being notified he was being sent to two other countries first.

“I want to speak with my client. Ryan wanted him to tell him that he was in Thailand. “Because I don’t know. As far as I’m concerned, he’s sitting in South Sudan with a guard potentially of the United States, potentially of South Sudan, hovering over him, telling him to tell me that he is in Burma. We don’t have any idea what’s happening.

The government had argued at the court hearing that people sent on the flight could have been concerned about being sent to a different country before being loaded on the plane.

Elianis Perez is an immigration lawyer with the Justice Department. “But I think any misunderstanding may have had to do with the fact that the court’s preliminary injunction wasn’t specific enough.”

They believe they complied with my order, because they don’t know any of the people that were yelling to the jailers that they were afraid to go to South Sudan. Murphy expressed his opinion during Wednesday’s hearing.

The men in this case only got 17 hours of notice for removal, and he said he would clarify his initial preliminary injunction to define how much notice is enough. The Justice Department maintains that 24 hours is enough, but the plaintiffs’ lawyers argue that 30 days is enough.

Murphy had earlier ordered the Department of Homeland Security to keep custody of migrants sent to South Sudan, or any third country, until he can verify they received proper due process.

The men’s lawyers wanted the men to be returned to the US, but a Department of Justice attorney wanted to talk to the men about their fear of being deported to another country.

The State Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about where a recent plane full of migrants was sent, and what their ultimate destination was.

The flights of deportees from the US would not arrive by Wednesday evening according to the spokesman. He said any migrants from outside of South Sudan that came to the country would be deported.

South Sudan is not the first country to voice an opposition to being a so-called third country. Libya rejected reports that they would take in deportees from the U.S. if they were not Libyan nationals.

U.S. judicial authority over deported asylum seekers in Djibouti: an immigration press secretary says “Judge Murphy violates national security and diplomatic relations”

If you have immigration tips you can contact our tip line, on Whatsapp and Signal: 202-713-6697 or reporters Jasmine Garsd: [email protected] and Ximena Bustillo [email protected]

Questions about U.S. authority over migrants deported to other countries have arisen in several other high-profile immigration cases, raising questions about the limits of judicial authority.

Murphy did not rule out holding the Trump administration in contempt of court for violating his initial order, but said that would be left for a later time.

In order for the government to decide if deportees should be allowed to stay in the U.S., they have to give them “reasonable fear” interviews. They must get two weeks to find a new home if they are fearful of being deported.

After being deported, immigrants will stay in Djibouti for two weeks, according to the White House press secretary. She said Murphy undermined U.S. national security and diplomatic relationships. “Judge Murphy is forcing federal officials to remain in Djibouti for over two weeks threatening our U.S. diplomatic relationships with countries around the world and putting the agents’ lives in danger by having to be with these illegal murderers, criminals and rapists.”

The White House said that the migrants were violent criminals. According to D.H.S documents the men had been convicted of crimes including murder, sexual assault, kidnapping and robbery.

The White House has announced that a flight with eight immigrants which was reportedly heading to South Sudan will instead remain in the East African country of Djibouti for at least two weeks, in order to comply with a federal court order.