The Trump administration called out a federal judge from Massachusetts after that judge said the administration “unquestionably” violated a court order after several men were deported to South Sudan.
At a Wednesday court hearing, U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy, appointed by former President Joe Biden and a former defense attorney from Worcester, repeated his order from April that immigration officials did not provide “meaningful” due process for people to challenge threats of deportation, Politico reported.
The White House hit back and called Murphy’s comments “another attempt by a far-left activist judge to dictate the foreign policy of the United States — and protect the violent criminal illegal immigrants President Donald J. Trump and his administration have removed from our streets,” according to an administration memo.
The federal government must give migrants a minimum of 10 days to raise concerns about their safety risks if sent to a third country, Murphy said, according to ABC News.
If a reasonable fear of being sent to these countries is found credible, the government must reopen immigration proceedings, Murphy said. If no reasonable fear is found, the government still needs to give a minimum of 15 days to reopen their case.
The memo shows mugshots of eight men, two from Cuba, one from Laos, one from Mexico, one from South Sudan, two from Burma and one from Vietnam. All were convicted of various charges, including first and second-degree murder, robbery, drug possession and trafficking, sexual assault and kidnapping, among others.
At the end of the memo, Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, said in the statement, said Murphy tried to “force the United States to bring back these uniquely barbaric monsters who present a clear and present threat to the safety of the American people and American victims.”
“While we are fully compliant with the law and court orders, it is absolutely absurd for a district judge to try and dictate the foreign policy and national security of the United States of America,” McLaughlin said.
Despite Murphy blocking the Trump administration from deporting people, the administration took the eight men held in immigration custody in Texas and boarded them on a plane to be deported, Politico wrote. The men only had about 12 hours’ notice and did not speak to their lawyers.
