April 18 (UPI) — A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration from deporting noncitizens to a third country unless there is a “meaningful opportunity” to object to their removal.
In Boston, Judge Brian Murphy, an appointee of President Joe Biden, issued the preliminary injunction that prevents the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from deporting them to places not spelled out in their order without raising concerns about their safety.
ICE is part of the Department of Homeland Security.
The injunction is in force until the case is resolved. On March 28, he issued a temporary order.
Several other deportation cases are likely headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Under Murphy’s preliminary order, noncitizens must receive written notice before they are removed to a country that is not their home. This must be done at least 15 days to reopen their immigration proceedings.
This applies to the plaintiffs, as well as other noncitizens.
“Defendants argue that the United States may send a deportable alien to a country not of their origin, not where an immigration judge has ordered, where they may be immediately tortured and killed, without providing that person any opportunity to tell the deporting authorities that they face grave danger or death because of such a deportation,” Judge Murphy wrote.
“All nine sitting justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, the Assistant Solicitor General of the United States, Congress, common sense, basic decency, and this Court all disagree.”
The Trump administration has been sending them to El Salvador, Honduras or Panama.
On March 15, two planeloads of alleged Venezuelan gang members send detainees to the notorious Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador, mainly without due process by invoking the 1798 Alien Enemies Act. They are alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
In Washington, D.C., District Judge James Boasberg, appointed by President Barack Obama, has ordered the departures were improper and ordered the 200 deportees to be returned. On Wednesday, he ruled probable cause exists to prosecute members of the Trump administration for criminal contempt for continuing deportation flights to El Salvador.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said the planes already were in international airspace and outside the federal district court’s jurisdiction when Boasberg ordered them to return to the United States.
The Supreme Court on April 7 affirmed the Trump administration can deport individuals while using the Alien Enemies Act but they need due process.
“The irreparable harm factor likewise weighs in Plaintiffs’ favor,” Murphy wrote. “Here, the threatened harm is clear and simple: persecution, torture, and death. It is hard to imagine harm more irreparable.”
Murphy said the defendants “have applied and will continue to apply the alleged policy of removing aliens to third countries without notice and an opportunity to be heard on fear-based claims — in other words, without due process.”
Murphy also is considering whether the Trump administration violated his recent temporary restraining order when it removed at least three men to El Salvador without allowing them to raise concerns about their safety.
