Immigration lawyers told a federal judge on Tuesday that they had received information indicating that the US government may have sent migrants from Myanmar and Vietnam on a deportation flight to South Sudan, an eastern African country plagued by conflict and political instability.
In an emergency filing with the federal district court in Massachusetts, the attorneys stated that the reported deportation flight to South Sudan would directly violate a ruling issued by U.S. District Court Judge Brian Murphy, which prohibited the Trump administration from deporting migrants to third countries without providing them with certain due process rights.
The lawyers stated that any migrant deported to South Sudan “faces a strong likelihood of irreparable harm,” citing reports of widespread violence, human rights violations, and conflict in the landlocked African country, which is the world’s youngest.
South Sudan experienced a bloody civil war shortly after gaining independence in 2011, and there are recent fears of a new conflict. The United States State Department has issued a Level 4 travel advisory for South Sudan, warning Americans not to travel there due to “crime, kidnapping, and armed conflict.”
The emergency motion asked Murphy to prohibit deportations of third-country deportees to South Sudan and to order the return of those who had already been deported there.
Late on Tuesday, Murphy directed the Trump administration to “maintain custody and control” of the migrants reportedly being sent to South Sudan or another third country, so that they can return to the United States if their deportation is found to be unlawful. He instructed government lawyers to be prepared to provide specific information during a hearing scheduled for Wednesday, such as the names of the deportees and the level of due process they received.
The United States has not publicly confirmed a plan to deport non-South Sudanese migrants to that country. Representatives from the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Trump administration has launched an aggressive diplomatic campaign to persuade nations around the world to accept migrants who are not their own citizens, contacting far-flung countries such as Libya and Rwanda to accept third-country deportees. African and Asian migrants have already been deported to Costa Rica and Panama, with Venezuelans deported to El Salvador.
Earlier this month, CBS News and other outlets reported that the administration planned to send migrants to Libya, but the flight never happened.
In April, Murphy, a federal judge in Massachusetts, barred the government from deporting migrants to third countries unless they and their lawyers were given notice of the destination and the opportunity to contest their deportation.
In their filing on Tuesday, the immigration lawyers stated that the government appeared to have violated the order in the case of two Myanmar and Vietnamese migrants.
According to the lawyers’ emails, an attorney for the man from Myanmar received a notice on Monday that his client had been informed that he would be deported to South Africa. The attorney was then sent another email informing him that his client was about to be deported to South Sudan, according to the emails.
On Tuesday morning, another lawyer representing the Myanmar man emailed the immigration detention center in Los Fresnos, Texas, where he was being held, to inquire about his whereabouts. She was informed that her client had been deported in the morning. When she asked where, she got an email that said “South Sudan.”
The lawyers also said they received an email from a woman who said she believed her husband, a Vietnamese man, had been deported to South Sudan along with other migrant detainees held at the Los Fresnos facility.