Article By LINDSAY WHITEHURST
The Trump administration has reportedly started deporting individuals from Myanmar and Vietnam to South Sudan, disregarding a court order that limits removals to other countries, as per court documents filed by migrants’ attorneys.
Several people from various countries may have been sent to Africa by immigration authorities, which goes against the court mandate requiring individuals to have a “meaningful opportunity” to argue against being sent to a country where their safety could be compromised, the attorneys stated.
Confirmation of the deportation of a man from Myanmar was received via an email from a Texas immigration official, with the individual being informed solely in English, a language he is not proficient in, just hours before his deportation flight, according to the attorneys.
Another woman reported that her husband from Vietnam and possibly 10 others were flown to Africa on Tuesday morning, as mentioned by attorneys from the National Immigration Litigation Alliance.
The attorneys sought an emergency court order from Judge Brian E. Murphy to halt the deportations. Judge Murphy, appointed by President Joe Biden, previously ruled that any plans to deport individuals to Libya without notice would violate his ruling, which also covers individuals who have exhausted their legal options. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Wednesday.
The Department of Homeland Security and the White House have not yet responded to requests for comment.
Some countries do not accept deportations from the U.S., prompting the Trump administration to make agreements with other nations, such as Panama, to accommodate deportees. Venezuelans have been sent to a well-known prison in El Salvador under an 18th-century wartime law that has been heavily contested in court.
South Sudan has faced multiple waves of violence since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011, with recent tensions between forces loyal to the president and vice president threatening to escalate into a full-scale civil war, according to the top U.N. official in the country.
The U.S. State Department’s 2024 report on South Sudan highlighted significant human rights concerns, including arbitrary killings, disappearances, torture by security forces, and violence based on gender and sexual identity.
The U.S. Homeland Security Department has granted Temporary Protected Status to a limited number of South Sudanese residents in the U.S. since 2011, safeguarding them from deportation due to unsafe conditions. Secretary Kristi Noem recently extended these protections until November for further evaluation.
Contributors: Rebecca Santana, Tim Sullivan, Elliot Spagat
