Mass. judge denies eight migrants’ request to halt South Sudan deportation
A Massachusetts federal judge denied a request by eight migrants to halt their deportation to South Sudan on Friday. The Justice Department lawyers stated that the men were scheduled to be flown to South Sudan at 7:00 pm ET after two courts considered their emergency request on July 4th, a day when courts would typically be closed. The migrants, hailing from Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Burma, Sudan, and Vietnam, filed new claims on Thursday following a clarification from the U.S. Supreme Court that a Boston federal judge could not compel the Department of Homeland Security to detain them.
In a related development, federal Judge Randolph Moss in Washington paused the Trump administration’s efforts to deport the eight migrants to South Sudan. This case is part of a larger debate surrounding the legality of the Trump administration’s strategy to transfer illegal immigrants to third countries.
The eight men argued that their deportations to South Sudan would violate the Constitution, specifically the prohibition of “cruel and unusual” punishment. The Department of Homeland Security revealed that the men had been convicted of various crimes, with four of them convicted of murder. Instead of returning to the United States, they were held for six weeks on a military base in Djibouti.
During a hearing with Moss, a government lawyer highlighted the issue of court orders halting agreed-upon deportations, citing potential diplomatic complications and reluctance from foreign countries to accept migrant transfers in the future. Moss expressed concerns about sending individuals to locations where their physical well-being could be at risk for punitive reasons or as a signal to others.
This case underscores the ongoing debate surrounding immigration policies and the government’s approach to deterring immigration by deporting individuals to countries other than their own. The legal proceedings and arguments presented in this case reflect the complexities and ethical considerations involved in immigration enforcement.
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