Detainees were warned before deportation, allowed to assert the fear of torture and given time to remove the conflict, the judge ruled.
A federal judge blocked the Trump administration from deporting illegal immigrants to Libya or other third countries without first giving them the opportunity to request protection under US law after the Trump administration surfaced reports of impending military flights carrying detainees to North African countries.
“If there is no doubt that the plaintiff will try to support the accounts and public information of class members, as reported by the press, the court has not seen anything.
“This claim is not necessary because it blatantly ignores the court’s preliminary injunction,” the plaintiff’s lawyer wrote, but Libya said it was “known for its human rights violations.”
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According to the case submission, some plaintiffs had previously been granted protection from removal to their home country under the treaty against torture, but were later said they could be sent to a third country that was not included in the original order.
A Justice Department spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment.
The incident comes amid the wider efforts of the Trump administration to expand its deportation program and explore new destination countries for foreigners excluded from the United States.
President Donald Trump recently questioned whether individuals who enter the United States illegally have the same due process rights as citizens.
In an interview aired Sunday at an NBC meeting, Trump said such requirements meant “we need to go to trial for 1 million or 2 million or 3 million.”
The president added that his administration’s lawyers “clearly follow” the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in this regard.
