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A federal judge is blocking Donald Trump’s administration from deporting a group of Laotian, Vietnamese and Filipino immigrants to Libya after lawyers cited “alarming” reports that the flights to the war-torn African nation were “imminent.”
Massachusetts District Judge Brian E. Murphy granted a temporary restraining order on Wednesday that temporarily blocks the government from so-called “third-country removals” until targeted immigrants have a meaningful chance to challenge their removal in court.
An emergency filing from attorneys for the immigrants warned that the government would be “blatantly” defying a court order that prohibits those removals, which lawyers feared were being prepared on U.S. military flights scheduled as early as Wednesday.
Judge Murphy said government would clearly violate” his court order if those flights took off, delivering a clear warning to administration officials after several federal judges have sparred with government attorneys about similar orders against swift removals that appeared to defy court orders against them.
He cited his court order from April 18, which requires third-country removals to have a written notice in a language that the targeted immigrants can understand, “as well as a meaningful opportunity for the non-citizen to raise a fear-based claim” for protection from removal.
“If there is any doubt — the Court sees none — the allegedly imminent removals, as reported by news agencies and as Plaintiffs seek to corroborate with class-member accounts and public information, would clearly violate this Court’s Order,” Murphy wrote.
Asked on Wednesday whether he is aware that federal immigration authorities are preparing deportation flights to Libya, the president said: “I don't know. You'll have to ask Homeland Security.”
This is a developing story
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