Judge rejects last-minute request, paving way for removal of 8 migrants detained in Djibouti
Source: ABC News
July 4, 2025, 7:01 PM
A federal judge on Friday denied an eleventh-hour request for a temporary restraining order blocking the removal of eight migrants detained in the African nation of Djibouti, paving the way for the Trump administration to complete their removal to South Sudan.
The migrants, who were convicted in the United States of violent crimes, were given notices of removal and placed on a flight from the U.S. to the East African country of South Sudan in May -- but after U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy blocked the administration's attempt to deport the group without giving them a sufficient chance to contest their removal, the group disembarked in Djibouti, where they were held in a U.S. military facility in legal limbo.
In an unsigned opinion on Thursday, the Supreme Court explained that since it lifted Judge Murphy's due process requirements for third-country removals last month, the government can no longer be held to account for allegedly violating the requirements, clearing the way for the administration to remove them to South Sudan -- a country with which the men have no ties. On Friday, just hours before the men were scheduled to board a plane for South Sudan, U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss issued an administrative stay in a new case filed on behalf of the eight men.
"We are not seeking to challenge a removal order," an attorney representing the men said at a hearing Friday afternoon in Washington, D.C. "We are seeking to challenge the act of sending petitioners to a place where they may be tortured, harmed or definitely imprisoned." Judge Moss ordered the stay to allow the parties to seek relief from the District of Massachusetts, where Judge Murphy made his original ruling. Judge Murphy, in an order issued Friday evening, denied the plaintiffs' request for a temporary restraining order.
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/clock-ticks-judge-pauses-removal-8-migrants-detained/story?id=123488635
REFERENCE - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143490837
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