The Trump administration has sparked outrage by deporting two Asian immigrants from Texas to the conflict-ridden nation of South Sudan, allegedly in violation of court orders, according to legal representatives. The two men, one from Myanmar and the other from Vietnam, were notified on Monday at the Port Isabel Detention Center in Los Fresnos, Texas, that they were to be removed to South Africa. However, the men refused to sign the deportation order, leading to a swift rescindment of the initial directive.
Shortly thereafter, immigration officers returned with another order indicating that the men would instead be deported to South Sudan. Once again, the detainees declined to sign, and the following morning, their attorneys and family members found themselves unable to locate them, according to court documents. These alarming accounts were detailed in an emergency motion submitted to U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy in Massachusetts, requesting the immediate return of the detained individuals.
Judge Murphy had previously issued a ruling instructing the Trump administration to halt any deportations to third countries after a failed attempt to send a group of 13 men to Libya earlier in the month. He emphasized that the administration would be breaching a prior court order that mandated due process for detainees. This includes the requirement for providing notices of removals in the detainees' native languages and allowing them the opportunity to argue against deportation to nations where their safety could be at risk.
The Department of Homeland Security has yet to respond to requests for comment on these unsettling developments. Jacqueline Brown, the attorney representing the Burmese man identified as N.M., noted in court documents that her client had been part of the group initially set to be deported to Libya before the plan was halted. Brown had scheduled a meeting with N.M. at 9 a.m. on Tuesday; however, her attempts to locate him via the detainee locator service yielded no results, as he had reportedly been deported to South Sudan earlier that morning.
The situation in South Sudan is dire, characterized by ongoing armed conflict and one of the world's largest refugee crises, as highlighted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. As of 2023, approximately 2.3 million people have fled the country, with an additional 2.2 million internally displaced. The U.S. State Department warns against travel to South Sudan due to pervasive risks such as kidnapping, road ambushes, armed robbery, murder, and home invasion.
The Burmese man, who speaks the regional language of Karen, faced final orders for removal from Nebraska, a state that is home to around 8,000 refugees from Myanmar, many of whom belong to the Karen ethnic minority escaping a long-standing civil war. Meanwhile, the Vietnamese man's spouse reported that he had signed orders to be deported back to Vietnam. He was detained alongside ten other immigrants from various countries, including Laos, Thailand, Pakistan, Korea, and Mexico, who were also removed.
In a desperate plea for help, the Vietnamese man’s spouse exclaimed, “Please help! They cannot be allowed to do this. This is not the first and won’t be the last if they keep getting away with this. I am begging for your assistance.” Advocates have condemned the inhumane conditions in detention centers, stating that overcrowding forces ICE to send individuals to dangerous locations as a means of alleviating the crisis. “This is not right,” they assert.
