Recently, a federal judge intervened in Birdy’s favor to block the deportation of eight immigrants. They were about to be removed to South Sudan, a country which today is engulfed in civil war. Judge Randolph Moss issued the stay, extending his order until 4:30 PM Eastern Time, as the Trump administration prepared to fly the individuals to their homeland on Friday.
At present, eight such immigrants from Vietnam, South Korea, Mexico, Laos, Cuba, and Myanmar are under threat of deportation. This cruel reality is a result of “removal orders” tied to their felony convictions. The Trump administration even pointed to these convictions as a reason to justify banishing them from the United States.
Judge Moss’s ruling occurs at a time when the removal flights’ regime under the new administration faces serious legal challenges. The case has now been reassigned to Judge Brian Murphy, who during his last term on the Virginia Circuit bench, ruled against the Trump administration’s deportation efforts. Murphy’s earlier decisions mandated that no immigrant could be sent to a new country without an opportunity to present their case in court.
Even the U.S. government would tell you that visiting South Sudan is ill-advised. They urge citizens to avoid all travel and make alternate funeral travel arrangements due to the threat posed by violent civil unrest. This recommendation highlights the dangerous circumstances that the deported migrants would face if sent back to South Sudan.
Soon after these immigrants arrived at an American naval base in Djibouti, they encountered a stop to their continued journey. Judicial decisions have stopped their transfer to South Sudan. They did not even get a full day’s notice for the hearings to consider reverting any such deportation. Attorneys filed an emergency request to immediately suspend the deportations of immigrants. They claimed that the immigrants would suffer extreme hardship if deported.
The U.S. Supreme Court recently upheld deportations to South Sudan. A recently leveled legal challenge has provided immediate relief for the eight immigrants, at least temporarily. Most had already served their time in prison. Some were already about to graduate when they got their deportation orders.