AFP, The Laotian Times – A group of migrants deported from the United States towards conflict-torn South Sudan will be held for now in Djibouti after a court ruling, the Trump administration announced on 22 May.
The US government claims it expelled the eight migrants from a range of nations due to their past convictions for violent crimes.
The migrants left the United States on a flight on 20 May, bound for South Sudan instead of their nations of origin, after Washington failed to obtain approval from their respective governments to take them back.
The White House identified the eight men as two citizens of Myanmar, two Cubans, a Vietnamese man, a Lao man, a Mexican, and a South Sudanese citizen. The US government claims it expelled them due to their past convictions for violent crimes.
The Lao individual has been identified as Thongxay Nilakout, 48. He was convicted of killing a German woman and wounding her husband in 1994 at age 17 while the couple visited a tourist lookout near Los Angeles. He was sentenced to life in prison but released in 2023 after a US Supreme Court ruling deemed mandatory life sentences for minors unconstitutional. That same year, an immigration judge ordered his repatriation to Laos. However, Thongxay waived his right to appeal.
They are currently detained by the Department of Homeland Security in Djibouti, where there is a major US military base.
United States District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston ruled Wednesday evening that the Trump administration had violated one of his previous orders, calling the timeframe given for the migrants to contest their expulsions “plainly insufficient.”
In his ruling, Murphy said that migrants had to receive at least ten days to appeal the decision, as required by the United Nations Convention Against Torture. He also ruled that six of the migrants were entitled to invoke, with the aid of a lawyer, their “fear” of torture or ill-treatment in the third country.
Donald Trump took to his Truth Social platform Thursday to decry Murphy’s order, saying he “has ordered that eight of the most violent criminals on Earth curtail their journey to South Sudan, and instead remain in Djibouti.”
Trump claimed the courts are “absolutely out of control.”
Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin slammed the federal judge for suspending the expulsion, accusing him of “trying to force the United States to bring back these uniquely barbaric monsters.”
McLaughlin told reporters that South Sudan was not the “final destination” for the migrants but declined to reveal their ultimate destination for “safety and operational security” reasons.
While the government said those scheduled for expulsion had ample warning, lawyers for the Vietnamese national and one Myanmar citizen said their clients only learned the night before or on the day of departure. The attorneys argue the government violated an earlier order by not allowing their clients time to file for protection under the United Nations Convention against Torture.
South Sudan, an impoverished nation grappling with insecurity and political instability, has a US State Department travel advisory. This case highlights ongoing legal challenges to Trump’s mass deportation efforts, which courts have repeatedly blocked over migrant rights concerns.
© Agence France-Presse