Despite a brief halt ordered by a federal judge, the Trump administration was able to proceed with deportations of eight immigrants to South Sudan, following a Supreme Court decision that cleared the path for their removal.
Court Drama on the Fourth of July
The legal drama started on Independence Day, when District Judge Randolph Moss in Washington, D.C. temporarily blocked the deportations while reviewing an emergency appeal from the immigrants’ lawyers.
However, after an afternoon hearing, Moss decided he was unable to block the removals, suggesting that Judge Brian Murphy in Boston should make the final ruling, since his earlier decisions had halted the deportations.
Murphy’s Final Ruling
By Friday evening, Judge Brian Murphy ruled that the Supreme Court’s decision had effectively overturned his previous order.
Murphy wrote that, because the case was now similar to earlier petitions, the Supreme Court’s orders were binding, and the deportations could move forward. “Petitioners’ motion is denied,” Murphy wrote.
Immigrants Set to Be Moved to South Sudan
Earlier, the Trump administration had announced that it planned to deport the immigrants to South Sudan. The immigrants had been held at a U.S. naval base in Djibouti for weeks, awaiting their fate as their case was bounced through the courts.
The administration had been trying to deport them for weeks, but they had been stuck in Djibouti due to the earlier court ruling by Murphy, which blocked deportations without a court hearing.
The Supreme Court Clears the Way
The Supreme Court had previously vacated Murphy’s decision last month, and then issued a new order on Thursday night that allowed the immigrants to be moved to South Sudan, despite the country being in civil war and the U.S. government advising against travel there.
The immigrants are not from South Sudan, and lawyers representing the group filed an emergency request to stop the deportations that evening.
What’s Next?
With the legal obstacles cleared, the Trump administration can now proceed with the deportations. The immigrants come from various countries, including Laos, Mexico, Myanmar, and Vietnam.