Judge says US must allow migrants a chance to challenge in court any deportations to Libya
WASHINGTON — Deporting migrants to Libya without a chance to challenge the removals would violate a court order, a federal judge said Wednesday, after immigration attorneys reported that authorities told people they would be sent to the country with a history of human rights violations.US District Judge Brian E.Murphy in Massachusetts has previously found that any migrants deported to countries other than their homelands must first be allowed to argue that removal would jeopardize their safety.He said that any “allegedly imminent” removals to Libya would “clearly violate this Court’s Order.” He also ordered the government to hand over details about the claims.Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said during a news conference in Illinois that she “can’t confirm” media reports of plans to remove people to Libya.
President Donald Trump directed questions to DHS.Several migrants being held in South Texas were informed early Tuesday of plans to send them to Libya, attorneys said, citing reports from relatives of those in detention.Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers gathered six people in a room and told them that they needed to sign a document agreeing that they would be removed to Libya, immigration attorneys representing people from Vietnam said in a court filing.“When they all refused, they were each put in a separate room and cuffed in (basically, solitary) in order to get them to sign it,” lawyers wrote.Immigration attorneys say that some of their clients were told by immigration enforcement agents that they were going to be deported to Libya.Some were also told they were going to Saudi Arabia.Murphy has been overseeing a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its practice of deporting people to countries where they are not citizens.He ruled in March that even if people have otherwise exhausted their legal appeals, they can’t be deported away from their homeland before getting a “meaningful opportunity”...