WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that U.S. officials must retain custody and control of migrants apparently removed to South Sudan in case he orders their removals were unlawful.
The attorneys asked Murphy for an emergency court order to prevent the deportations.
He also ruled that the government must provide information about the whereabouts of the migrants apparently already removed.
South Sudan has suffered repeated waves of violence since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011 amid hopes it could use its large oil reserves to bring prosperity to a region long battered by poverty.
The U.S is one of the biggest donors to South Sudan’s humanitarian aid programs with the total funding in 2024 standing at over $640 million, according to the U.S embassy in South Sudan.
A federal judge in Washington has decided that U.S. A. If he decides that the migrants’ removals were illegal, officials must maintain custody and control over the migrants who appear to have been sent to South Sudan.
U. S. District Judge Brian E. Attorneys for immigrants claimed that the Trump administration seems to have started deporting people from Vietnam and Myanmar to South Sudan — despite a court order restricting removals to other countries — and Murphy in Massachusetts issued the decision late Tuesday following an emergency hearing.
Murphy stated that in the event that the Court determines that the removals were illegal, the government must “maintain custody and control of class members currently being removed to South Sudan or to any other third country, to ensure the practical feasibility of return.”. “”.
Although Murphy said he expects the migrants “will be treated humanely,” he left the specifics up to the government’s judgment. “”.
Immigration officials may have sent up to a dozen people from multiple countries to Africa, the migrants’ lawyers told the judge, in violation of a court order requiring people to be given a “meaningful opportunity” to argue that their safety would be threatened if they were sent to a country outside of their home country.
Court documents show that an email from a Texas immigration official confirmed the apparent removal of one man from Myanmar. His attorneys claimed to have learned of the plan just hours before his deportation flight and that he was only told in English, a language he does not speak well.
Meanwhile, lawyers from the National Immigration Litigation Alliance wrote that a woman said her Vietnamese husband and ten or more others were flown to Africa on Tuesday morning.
To stop the deportations, the lawyers requested an urgent court order from Murphy. Any plans to deport people to Libya without warning would “clearly” violate Murphy’s ruling, which also applies to those who have otherwise exhausted their legal appeals. Murphy was appointed by President Joe Biden.
In his Tuesday directive, Murphy stated that U. A. Officials are required to appear in court on Wednesday in order to identify the affected migrants, discuss how and when they found out they would be sent to a third country, and discuss the opportunity they were given to make a claim based on fear. Additionally, he decided that the government had to disclose the location of the migrants who had reportedly already been removed.
Messages asking for comment were not immediately answered by the White House or the Department of Homeland Security.
Major General James Monday Enoka, the spokesperson for the South Sudanese police, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that no migrants had yet to enter the nation and that if they did, they would be examined and “re-deported to their correct country” if it was determined that they were not South Sudanese.
Due to the refusal of certain nations to take deportations from the United States, the Trump administration has reached agreements with other nations, such as Panama, to host them. In accordance with a contentious 18th-century wartime law, the Trump administration has detained Venezuelans in a renowned prison in El Salvador.
Since separating from Sudan in 2011, South Sudan has experienced recurrent waves of violence in the hopes of using its vast oil reserves to boost economic growth in a formerly impoverished region. Only a few weeks ago, the top U.S. N. . An official cautioned that a full-scale civil war could erupt once more from fighting between forces loyal to the president and a vice president.
“It is eerily reminiscent of the conflicts in 2013 and 2016, which claimed over 400,000 lives,” said Nicholas Haysom, commander of the nearly 20,000-member U.S. N. peacekeeping assignment.
The U. S. In April 2024, the State Department released its annual report on South Sudan, which states that “significant human rights issues” include widespread violence based on gender and sexual identity, arbitrary killings, disappearances, torture or inhumane treatment by security forces, and more.
The U. S. . A limited number of South Sudanese who have been in the United States since its founding in 2011 have been granted Temporary Protected Status by the Homeland Security Department, which protects them from deportation due to circumstances that are considered unsafe for their return. These protections were recently extended until November by Secretary Kristi Noem to enable a more comprehensive review.
The diplomatic ties between the United States and South Sudan. When South Sudanese nationals were banned and their visas revoked due to a deportation dispute in April, tensions increased.
The U. With more than $640 million in funding for South Sudan’s humanitarian aid initiatives in 2024, S is one of the largest donors, according to the U.S. S embassy in South Sudan.
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