US Accused of Defying Order by Sending Migrants to S. Sudan

Immigrant rights advocates accused the Trump administration on Tuesday of deporting about a dozen migrants from countries including Myanmar and Vietnam to South Sudan in violation of a court order and asked a judge to demand their return.

The advocates made the request in a motion directed to a Democrat-appointed federal judge in Boston who barred the Trump administration from swiftly deporting migrants to countries other than their own without hearing any concerns they had that they might be tortured or persecuted if sent there.

Attorneys for a group of migrants pursuing the class-action lawsuit overseen by U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy, appointed by Joe Biden, said they learned that nearly a dozen held at a detention facility in Texas were flown to South Sudan on Tuesday morning.

Those included an individual from Myanmar whose attorney received an email Monday from an official with Immigration and Customs Enforcement informing the attorney of the intent to deport his client to South Sudan.

The person's attorneys said they learned their client had been flown to South Sudan on Tuesday morning.

The spouse of a Vietnamese man who was held at the same detention center in Texas emailed his attorney saying he and 10 other individuals were deported, according to the motion.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.