A federal judge said Wednesday the Trump administration violated his order when it boarded a group of migrants on a flight headed for South Sudan earlier this week and he will issue an order requiring it to be remedied.
U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy ruled the flight ran afoul of his decision last month requiring the administration provide sufficient notice before deporting migrants to a country with which they have no ties.
“I find that my preliminary injunction order has been violated,” said Murphy, an appointee of former President Biden who serves in Boston.
The judge said the flight “unquestionably” violated his order, but he would leave for another day whether it amounted to criminal contempt.
One day prior, immigration attorneys rushed to Murphy’s court after learning about the flight to South Sudan. The judge quickly ordered officials to keep the group of migrants in U.S. custody as he mulled whether it violated his previous ruling.
At Wednesday’s hearing, Justice Department attorney Elianis Perez said the plane had landed, but the migrants remain aboard with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
Perez warned that five of the migrants are convicted murderers and two have sexual offense convictions, telling the judge “there’s some very serious operational and safety concerns” for the ICE agents.
“Your honor, we ask that if the court is going to grant any relief, that the court be cognizant of these concerns,” Perez said.
The migrants’ attorneys are pushing for the judge to require the migrants be returned to the United States and provide 30-days’ notice in the future. The judge said he would work on crafting the most narrowly tailored remedy he could, noting he was mindful of the executive’s authority over national security.
Murphy gave the Justice Department until the end of the day to submit any proposals on what lines he should draw.
The Department of Homeland Security has released the names of the eight migrants aboard the flight and their serious criminal convictions.
“We are removing these convicted criminals from American soil so they can never hurt another American victim. It is absurd that an activist judge 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,” Tricia McLaughlin, the department’s assistant secretary for public affairs, said in a statement in the lead-up to Wednesday’s hearing.
The battle came after Murphy last month required the administration to provide certain due process to migrants before removing them to a country other than the one issued on their deportation order.
The lawsuit was filed by attorneys at the National Immigration Litigation Alliance, Northwest Immigrant Rights Project and Human Rights First.
Immigration authorities must provide a noncitizen and their attorney with written notice in a language they can understand before removing them to another country, and the migrant must also be afforded a “meaningful opportunity” to raise claims that they would face persecution or torture if deported there, Murphy ruled.
The Justice Department on Wednesday insisted it had not violated the order, noting that the judge had not delineated a specific notice period for the migrants.
“This is undeniably insufficient to the point where, I believe, to be obviously insufficient,” Murphy pushed back, stressing that the migrants received mere hours notice before being sent to the airport.
Updated at 2:24 p.m. EDT
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