Judge warns Trump administration against swiftly deporting migrants to Libya

A federal judge issued a stark warning to the Trump administration on Wednesday that the deportation of immigrants to Libya would violate a previous court order.

“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,” U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy, a Biden appointee, wrote in his order. 

He previously issued an injunction on April 18, ordering officials to give non-citizens and their counsel a chance to oppose their deportation to foreign countries where they may face persecution.

Murphy also directed the Trump administration to provide the parties with written notice of proposed removals in a language they can understand prior to any departures and noted an April 30 order preventing the Department of Homeland Security from removing non-citizens through other agencies including but not limited to the Department of Defense.

“Plaintiffs are simply asking to be told they are going to be deported to a new country before they are taken to such a country, and be given an opportunity to explain why such a deportation will likely result in their persecution, torture, and/or death,” Murphy wrote in his April order.

“This small modicum of process is mandated by the Constitution of the United States…,” he added.

Non-citizens from Laos, Vietnam and the Philippines were being prepared for removal to Libya, a country notorious for its human rights violations, on Wednesday, according to legal filings based on reports from Reuters and other outlets.

Dueling governments in the North African region said they would refuse deportation flights, according to the Washington Post.