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Migrants in US detention lose appeal against deportation to South Sudan

Migrants in US detention lose appeal against deportation to South Sudan

Eight migrants in United States custody have lost a last-ditch attempt to avoid deportation to South Sudan, a country facing ongoing criticism for human rights abuses. On Friday, Judge Brian Murphy of Boston denied the eleventh-hour appeal, which has been the subject of a flurry of legal activity throughout the day. The appeal argued that repeated efforts under President Donald Trump to deport the men to South Sudan was “impermissibly punitive”. It pointed out that the US Constitution bars “cruel and unusual punishment”. In the past, the US Department of State has accused South Sudan of “extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, torture and cases of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment”. It advises no American citizen to travel there due to an ongoing armed conflict. But the US Supreme Court has twice ruled that the Trump administration could indeed deport the men to countries outside of their homelands. Its latest decision was issued on Thursday. The US Department of Justice indicated that the eight men were set to be flown to South Sudan by 7pm US Eastern Time (23:00 GMT) on Friday. They hailed from countries like Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar, Sudan and Vietnam. The last-ditch appeal was filed on Thursday night, shortly after the Supreme Court rendered its decision. Initially, the case was assigned to US District Judge Randolph Moss in Washington, DC, who signalled he was sympathetic to the deportees’ request. He briefly ordered the deportation to be paused until 4:30pm Eastern Time (20:30 GMT), but ultimately, he decided to transfer the case back to Murphy, the judge whose decisions helped precipitate the Supreme Court’s rulings. Advertisement Murphy had previously issued injunctions against the deportations to South Sudan, leading to successful appeals from the Trump administration. The eight men, meanwhile, had been held at a military base in Djibouti while the courts decided their fate. Before he transferred the case back to Murphy, however, Judge Moss said it was possible the deportees could prove their case that the Trump administration intended to subject them to abuse. “It seems to me almost self-evident that the United States government cannot take human beings and send them to circumstances in which their physical wellbeing is at risk simply either to punish them or send a signal to others,” Moss said during the hearing. Lawyers for the Trump administration, meanwhile, argued that the deportation’s continued delay would strain relations with countries willing to accept migrants from other countries. Murphy, who denied Friday’s request, had previously ruled in favour of the deportees, issuing an injunction against their removal to South Sudan and saying they had a right to contest the deportation based on fears for their safety. The Supreme Court first lifted the injunction on June 23 and clarified its ruling again on Thursday, giving a subtle rebuke to Judge Murphy. The Trump administration has been pushing for rapid removals as part of its campaign of mass deportation, one of President Trump’s signature priorities. Opponents have accused the administration of steamrolling the human rights of undocumented people in order to achieve its aims, including the right to due process under the law. But the Trump administration has framed undocumented migration as an “invasion” that constitutes a national security crisis, and it argued that its strong-armed efforts are needed to expel criminals. The eight migrants slated to be sent to South Sudan, it said, were “barbaric, violent criminal illegal aliens”. It added that they had been found guilty of crimes, including first-degree murder, robbery and sexual assault. “These sickos will be in South Sudan by Independence Day,” Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a news release on Thursday. Adblock test (Why?)

Judge backs Trump admin’s deportation push for 8 illegal migrants after another judge blocks it

Judge backs Trump admin’s deportation push for 8 illegal migrants after another judge blocks it

Eight migrants were denied a request by a Massachusetts federal judge on Friday to have their deportation to South Sudan halted. Justice Department lawyers said the men were scheduled to be flown to South Sudan on Friday at 7 p.m. ET after two courts considered their emergency request on July 4, a day when courts would otherwise be closed, Reuters reported.  The migrants, who are from Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Burma, Sudan and Vietnam, filed new claims on Thursday after the U.S. Supreme Court clarified that Boston federal Judge Brian Murphy couldn’t require the Department of Homeland Security to hold them. Also on Friday, federal Judge Randolph Moss in Washington paused the Trump administration’s efforts to deport the eight migrants to South Sudan, the latest case testing the legality of the Trump administration’s push to ship illegal immigrants to third countries.  JUDGE STRIKES DOWN TRUMP ORDER PREVENTING ASYLUM REQUESTS, PROTECTIONS FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS Moss had briefly halted the deportation after lawyers for the migrants filed the new claims in his court and sent the case to Boston, where Murphy denied the claim.   The eight men argued their deportations to South Sudan would violate the Constitution, which prohibits “cruel and unusual” punishment, Reuters reported. They have been convicted of various crimes, with four of them convicted of murder, the Department of Homeland Security has said. They were detained for six weeks on a military base in Djibouti instead of being brought back to the United States. On Thursday, the migrants filed new claims after the Supreme Court said that a federal judge in Boston could no longer require the Department of Homeland Security to hold them, Reuters reported.  TRUMP ADMIN ASK SCOTUS TO AUTHORIZE RAPID MIGRANT DEPORTATIONS TO COUNTRIES OTHER THAN THEIR OWN Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House.  During Friday’s hearing with Moss, a government lawyer argued that court orders halting agreed-upon deportations pose a serious problem for U.S. diplomatic relations and would make foreign countries less likely to accept transfers of migrants in the future. The case is the latest development over the legality of the Trump administration’s campaign to deter immigration by shipping migrants to locations other than their countries of origin pursuant to deals with other countries, according to Reuters.  “It seems to me almost self-evident that the United States government cannot take human beings and send them to circumstances in which their physical well-being is at risk simply either to punish them or send a signal to others,” Moss said during the hearing.

Trump signs ‘big, beautiful’ bill in sweeping victory for second term agenda, overcoming Dems and GOP rebels

Trump signs ‘big, beautiful’ bill in sweeping victory for second term agenda, overcoming Dems and GOP rebels

President Donald Trump signed his $3.3 trillion “big, beautiful bill” on Friday, after the House passed the final version of the measure Thursday to ensure it arrived at the president’s desk by his self-imposed July 4 deadline.  The bill includes key provisions that would permanently establish individual and business tax breaks included in Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and incorporates new tax deductions to cut duties on tips and overtime pay.  Before signing the bill, the president said the bill would “fuel massive economic growth” and “lift up the hard-working citizens who make this country run.” “We have officially made the Trump tax cuts permanent,” Trump said. “That’s the largest tax cut in the history of our country. … After this kicks in, our country is going to be a rocket ship economically. We’ve delivered no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and no tax on Social Security for our great seniors. … It makes the child tax credit permanent for 40 million American families. … The Golden Age of America is upon us.” The measure also raises the debt limit by $5 trillion — a provision that has faced scrutiny from figures including SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who formerly led a war against wasteful government spending at the Department of Government Efficiency.  Furthermore, the bill rescinds certain Biden-era green energy tax credits, and allocates approximately $350 billion for defense and Trump’s mass deportation initiative to weed out illegal immigrants from the U.S.  “Wind. It doesn’t work,” Trump said. “I will tell you, aside from ruining our fields and our valleys, killing all the birds, [and] being very weak and very expensive, [they are] all made in China. You know, I noticed something … with all of the windmills that China sends us … I have never seen a wind farm in China.” JD VANCE POISED TO CLINCH VICTORY FOR TRUMP’S LANDMARK BILL AS GOP FINALIZES STRATEGY The measure also institutes Medicaid reforms, including new 80-hour-a-month work requirements for Medicaid recipients, and expands work requirements for those on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.  Republicans in the Senate were sent scrambling on June 26 to reform and pass the measure ahead of Trump’s July 4 deadline after Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough determined that several Medicaid reforms in the sweeping tax and domestic policy package did not follow Senate rules and must be removed. Ultimately, the Senate barely passed the measure on Tuesday by a 51-50 margin. Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, and Rand Paul of Kentucky all voted against the bill, requiring Vice President JD Vance to step in and cast the tie-breaking vote.  TAX CUTS, WORK REQUIREMENTS AND ASYLUM FEES: HERE’S WHAT’S INSIDE THE SENATE’S VERSION OF TRUMP’S BILL The legislation then headed back to the House to hammer out a few differences in the versions passed in both chambers of Congress.  On Wednesday evening prior to the House’s passage, Vance turned up the heat on lawmakers to get the measure through the finish line, citing provisions in the measure that would bolster border security.  “The Big Beautiful Bill gives the president the resources and the power to undo the Biden border invasion,” Vance said in a Wednesday post on X. “It must pass.” “Congrats to everyone. At times I even doubted we’d get it done by July 4! But now we’ve delivered big tax cuts and the resources necessary to secure the border. Promises made, promises kept!” Trump also zeroed in on the measure’s border provisions when he urged lawmakers to get the legislation completed at a “One, Big, Beautiful Event” at the White House on June 26, labeling the bill the “single-most important piece of border legislation ever to cross the floor of Congress.”  “This is the ultimate codification of our agenda to — very simply, a phrase that’s been used pretty well by me over the past 10 years, but maybe even before that — make America great again,” Trump said at the event.  Other administration officials also cautioned that failure to pass the bill would wreak havoc on the economy. For example, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought told lawmakers in June that failure to pass the measure would result in a 60% tax hike for Americans and would trigger a recession. SENATE PASSES TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ AFTER MARATHON VOTE-A-RAMA Meanwhile, no Democrats in either chamber of Congress backed the measure. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., labeled the bill “cruel” during floor remarks that lasted hours on Thursday, pointing to Medicaid and SNAP reforms that reports suggest would remove millions of beneficiaries from the programs.  “What is contemplated in this one big, ugly bill is wrong. It’s dangerous, and it’s cruel, and cruelty should not be either the objective or the outcome of legislation that we consider here in the United States House of Representatives,” Jeffries said. Fox News Liz Elkind contributed to this report. 

Florida city commissioner ‘shocked’ to stand alone as colleagues defy Trump immigration crackdown

Florida city commissioner ‘shocked’ to stand alone as colleagues defy Trump immigration crackdown

A Florida city commissioner said she was shocked to find herself “standing alone” after her colleagues in the state’s southernmost municipality voted this week to end an agreement between the police department and federal immigration authorities. Key West city Commissioner Lissette Carey told Fox News Digital that she considered the potential consequences of severing the 287(g) agreement, which allows police officers to stop, question and detain illegal immigrants.  “I did my research prior to the meeting,” Carey said. “I was the only member of the Commission who understood the consequences and respected our state and federal government enough to uphold the law.” DESANTIS ADMINISTRATION THREATENS TO PUNISH ISLAND CITY THAT VOTED TO END POLICE AGREEMENT WITH ICE In a 5-1 vote, the commission voted to void the agreement, a move that came amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration and nationwide mass deportation operations. “I was deeply disturbed by the lack of understanding and the disregard for the safety, security, and long-term well-being of our city,” Carey said. “As the first to cast a vote on this matter, I was disheartened—and frankly shocked—to find myself standing alone in recognizing the importance of upholding this agreement.” The move has already met opposition from leaders in the state capital of Tallahassee.  In a letter dated Wednesday to the commissioners, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said their vote violates state law and has essentially made Key West a “sanctuary city.” “Florida law unequivocally forbids sanctuary cities,” Uthmeier wrote while demanding the city leaders reverse course. “Failure to take corrective action will result in the enforcement of all applicable civil and criminal penalties, including removal from office by the governor.” LARGE CITY SIGNS ONTO DEAL WITH ICE: ‘KEEP THE AMERICAN PEOPLE SAFE’ He added that they could face removal from office if they don’t reverse course.  Carey, whose mother and grandparents arrived in Key West from Cuba in the 1950s, said she supports legal immigration.  “I am proud of my heritage, and I honor the many contributions immigrants make to our communities,” she said. “But I also believe in following the law and ensuring public safety.” “Key West is often seen as a carefree, liberal town, but it’s also home to conservatives like me who support law enforcement,” added Carey.  Earlier in the week, Gov. Ron DeSantis said the issue is a matter of following state law.  FLORIDA AG TAKES ‘VICTORY LAP’ AFTER BLUE CITY SAYS IT WON’T VIOLATE SANCTUARY BAN “I think the attorney general has weighed in on that, and I’ll let him do the analysis and send them whatever warnings need to be sent,” DeSantis said at the opening of the new “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration detention center in the Everglades.  “But the reality is you have a responsibility for full participation,” he added. “And you can virtue signal and try to make political statements, but the reality is local governments have to abide by Florida law.” Choosing not to cooperate with immigration authorities only puts residents in those municipalities at risk, a White House spokesperson told Fox News Digital.  “Local officials refusing to work with federal law enforcement will not stop the Trump Administration’s mission to remove dangerous, criminal illegal aliens from American communities,” the spokesperson said. “It will only put American citizens living in their jurisdiction at risk. Quickly and efficiently deporting violent aliens makes every American community safer.”  Other Florida cities have done the opposite. In Miami, city commissioners there narrowly voted in favor last month to allow police officers to work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by entering into its own 287(g) partnership.