Boston: A U.S. federal judge expressed alarm on Tuesday after learning that a group of migrants may have been deported to South Sudan in direct violation of a standing court order. U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy, presiding from Boston in a hastily arranged virtual hearing, ordered that the migrants remain in U.S. custody—even if already en route to Africa.
While stopping short of demanding the plane’s return, Murphy made it clear that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had multiple avenues to ensure compliance, including detaining the migrants on the aircraft upon arrival. “I’m not going to limit DHS on where they hold them,” he said. “If they want to turn the plane around, they can.”
Murphy’s order came in response to a class action lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s push to deport migrants to third countries before allowing them to present claims of potential torture or persecution. “I have a strong indication that my preliminary injunction order has been violated,” he told U.S. Department of Justice attorney Elianis Perez.
The judge emphasized that any migrants covered under the injunction must remain in DHS custody until a further hearing scheduled for Wednesday. The DHS, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), did not provide any public comment.
The situation escalates ongoing tensions between the federal judiciary and the Trump administration, which has sought aggressive immigration enforcement measures. Last month, a separate judge, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington, found “probable cause” to hold government officials in contempt over the deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members in defiance of a court order.
In a related case, the U.S. Supreme Court recently blocked the deportation of Venezuelan migrants under a 1798 wartime law, citing violations of due process.
Murphy’s April 18 injunction mandates that migrants being considered for deportation to third countries must be provided due process under the Fifth Amendment and a “meaningful opportunity” to express fears for their safety.
Concerns intensified Tuesday when attorneys for the plaintiffs learned that nearly a dozen detainees from a Texas facility were reportedly being flown to South Sudan—a country plagued by instability since its civil war ended in 2018. The United Nations has warned that political unrest could reignite conflict.
The group reportedly included nationals from Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Pakistan, and Mexico. Among them was a Vietnamese man detained at Port Isabel Detention Center in Texas. According to Perez, he had been convicted of murder, and a DHS attorney added that another individual onboard was a convicted rapist.
An email from the Vietnamese man’s spouse to his attorney stated: “Please help! They cannot be allowed to do this.” The spouse believed 11 individuals, including her husband, had been deported.
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Further confusion arose when a Myanmar national believed to be on the same flight was reportedly redirected to Myanmar, despite prior notification of deportation to South Sudan. Perez confirmed the change but could not explain it. Trina Realmuto, a lawyer from the National Immigration Litigation Alliance, said the alteration “defies logic.”
Previously, Judge Murphy modified his injunction to prevent DHS from outsourcing deportations to other federal entities like the Department of Defense. That clarification followed the administration’s claim that the Pentagon was exempt from Murphy’s order—after it flew four Venezuelans from Guantanamo Bay to El Salvador. Murphy warned that if similar deportations were carried out to a country like Libya, it would “clearly violate” his ruling.
