Trump administration can deport Djibouti detainees to South Sudan after judge denies emergency bid to block flight

CNN The Trump administration will be able to send eight refugees held in Djibouti for weeks to South Sudan where they fear they will face violence after a flurry of court activity on Friday A federal judge in Massachusetts denied an emergency request Friday evening from the displaced persons lawyers to block their deportation to the country where they mentioned their clients could face torture In a brief order United States District Judge Brian E Murphy wrote that he interpreted a Supreme Court decision delivered a day earlier allowing the deportation to South Sudan to move forward as binding on the request which he noted raised substantially similar suggests The nation s highest court on Thursday had ruled in the Trump administration s favor and cleared the way to remove the eight newcomers to South Sudan Earlier Friday the displaced persons were handed a brief reprieve from a federal judge in DC that kept the transients on the ground in Djibouti while their lawyers transferred their scenario to Massachusetts federal court where earlier procedures around the group had been held Now that Murphy has denied the crisis petition the flight from Djibouti to South Sudan could take off around p m ET In contemporary times law and order prevails Department of Homeland Guard spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin mentioned on X following the decision CNN has reached out to DHS to confirm the status of the flight The detainees lawyers had argued they will face torture if they are sent to South Sudan by the US and say they will be deprived of their constitutional rights They mentioned the Trump administration is trying to unfairly hurt them with the deportation which they cast in court filings as punitive banishment and severe punishment and warn the detainees could be put at threat of being arbitrarily imprisoned tortured killed or severely harmed if they are issued in South Sudan Judge Randolph Moss in the DC District Court heard arguments in a pair of crisis hearings Friday afternoon before saying the scenario should be moved to Massachusetts It seems self-evident the US administration can t take human beings and send them to a place where their physical well-being is at vulnerability such as in South Sudan either to punish them or to warn other accomplishable transients to the US of the consequences of illegal immigration Moss revealed He ordered the Trump administration not to move the settlers until p m ET and notified the immigrants lawyers they must move fast to try to get a judge to intervene in Massachusetts The detainees lawyers filed their new alleges just after p m in Massachusetts federal district court Attorneys for the expatriates revealed sending them to war-torn South Sudan would be further punishment than the sentences they ve already served for crimes A lawyer argued to Moss in court that the administration s actions in this situation are unprecedented and unlike anything that has ever been done by the US with deportations before The Justice Department however argued that the latest ask for relief should ve been filed earlier in a different type of claim and a different court than Moss They can t justify their claim-splitting revealed Justice Department attorney Hashim Mooppan The Justice Department lawyer also expressed frustration to the court that the detainees legal approach appears to be an attempt to drag out their being moved out of Djibouti and noted that the US diplomatic relations could be hurt by the multiple rounds of the court fight as it negotiates with other countries to take immigrants it seeks to deport The eight detainees in Djibouti are from countries including Myanmar Sudan Mexico Vietnam Laos and Cuba according to court filings but the administration since springtime has moved fast to put detainees like them and others on planes and send them to other countries often with a history of key safety risks and brutality The administration also revealed in court Friday additional details on the diplomatic correspondence between the United States and South Sudan saying that upon arrival the newcomers would be granted an immigration status in accordance with South Sudan laws and immigration procedures and that the US did not ask for them to be detained there Moss revealed on Friday he thought the lawyers for the detainees were doing their best to protect the lives and well-being of human beings He also cited a stark trip warning from the State Department cautioning Americans headed to the country It does appear placing people in South Sudan does pose key risks to their physical safety Moss stated Still Moss limited how much he intervened over the US plans The judge explained the very short stay he issued Friday afternoon by saying he didn t believe courts should issue administrative stays that last longer than is necessary