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A US judge is considering whether to hold the Trump administration in contempt after deporting migrant detainees to South Sudan, in the latest court finding that the White House is ignoring court orders.
Brian Murphy, a district judge in Boston, said on Wednesday the government “unquestionably” violated a prior ruling barring deportations to countries other than individuals’ place of origin without due process, after a group of men facing removal orders after criminal convictions was put on a plane originally destined for South Sudan.
The flight departed Texas on Tuesday and stopped in Ireland, according to the website FlightAware, though its current location was not disclosed.
Murphy is the second US judge to accuse the Trump administration of flouting court orders related to deportations, intensifying friction between the White House and the judiciary as judges block a series of policy measures pursued by the government.
James Boasberg, a federal judge in Washington, is considering contempt proceedings against the government in relation to hundreds of alleged members of a Venezuelan gang who were flown to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador, despite orders barring such a move. The government has said it followed Boasberg’s rulings.
Holding government officials in contempt is exceedingly rare. Punishments for criminal contempt may include fines or jail time.
The case in Boston stems from a lawsuit brought by non-US citizens facing deportation orders. They challenged government policy to deport individuals to a third country without giving them notice or a chance to fight removals on the basis of potential persecution, torture or death.
Lawyers representing the plaintiffs on Tuesday sought an emergency order to stop the administration from flying the detainees to South Sudan, on the basis that they were not given a chance to apply for protection before boarding the flight.
Murphy on Tuesday ordered the government to “maintain custody and control of” individuals removed to South Sudan or any other third country “to ensure the practical feasibility of return if the Court finds that such removals were unlawful”.
The Department of Homeland Security released photos of eight men subject to the deportation proceeding from Vietnam, South Sudan, Laos, Cuba and other countries, listing their convictions.
“It is absurd that an activist judge is trying to force the United States to bring back” people the DHS described in a statement as “uniquely barbaric monsters who present a . . . threat to the safety of the American people”.
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