A federal judge on Friday rejected a last-minute legal attempt to block the deportation of eight men to South Sudan, allowing the Trump administration to proceed with removals that have drawn sharp criticism from human rights advocates.
The ruling by Judge Brian E. Murphy of the Federal District Court in Massachusetts came after the U.S. Supreme Court had already cleared the way for deportations earlier in the week, News.Az reports, citing New York Times.
The judge found that the new lawsuit raised “substantially similar claims” already addressed by the high court, and refused to issue another stay.
The eight men, all convicted of serious crimes in the U.S., had been held for weeks inside a shipping container on a military base in Djibouti, awaiting transfer. A Justice Department attorney confirmed during a Friday hearing that a flight to South Sudan was scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
The deportations mark a victory for the administration’s tough immigration enforcement agenda. A Homeland Security spokesperson referred to the men as “sickos” and vowed they would arrive in South Sudan by Independence Day.
Lawyers for the migrants—who come from Vietnam, Mexico, Laos, Cuba, Myanmar, and only one from South Sudan—argued that they could face torture upon arrival. U.S. officials claim they received diplomatic assurances from South Sudan that the men would be granted temporary immigration status and not harmed.
The case has underscored deep legal tensions over the boundaries of deportation law, human rights protections, and judicial authority.
