According to court filings, the group of migrants was abruptly removed from a detention facility in Texas and sent to Juba, without proper notice or interpreters, despite some lacking proficiency in English.
The deportations appear to contravene a ruling by U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy in Massachusetts, issued on April 18, 2025, which barred the U.S. government from deporting migrants to third countries—nations other than their countries of origin—without providing due process, including written notice and an opportunity to contest the removal based on fears of persecution or torture.
Brian Murphy, a judge appointed by President Joe Biden, held an emergency hearing on Tuesday evening, ordering the Trump administration to “maintain custody and control” of the deported migrants to ensure their potential return if the removals are deemed unlawful.
The judge emphasised that the migrants must be treated humanely and left the logistics of compliance to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), suggesting options such as keeping the plane on the tarmac in South Sudan or returning the migrants to the U.S.
Immigration lawyers, including representatives from the National Immigration Litigation Alliance and the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, expressed alarm over the deportations. They cited the case of a Burmese man, identified as N.M. in court documents, who was initially slated for deportation to Libya earlier this month—an attempt blocked by Murphy’s prior ruling.
On Monday, N.M. received a notice in English, a language he does not speak fluently, indicating his deportation to South Sudan. A Vietnamese migrant, identified as T.T.P., and at least 10 others reportedly faced similar circumstances, with some refusing to sign deportation orders to a country not their own.
The decision to deport Asian migrants to South Sudan, a nation not connected to their countries of origin, has raised questions about the Trump administration’s immigration strategy. The Embassy of South Sudan in Washington has yet to comment on the development.
In April, Makula Kintu, a Congolese national, was deported to South Sudan after the Department of State maintained that his documents were certified by the country’s embassy in Washington. An attempt by Juba to resist the decision was met by widespread visa revocation for South Sudanese passport holders in the United States.
