Donald Trump requested on Tuesday the Supreme Court to facilitate his administration the deportation of people to South Sudan, in Africa, and other countries, as part of his controversial immigration policy.
Trump’s request comes after US federal judge Brian Murphy from Boston urged authorities to maintain “custody” of a group of migrants who were attempting to be sent to third countries. In fact, he has ruled that a court order was violated by boarding several people on a flight for deportation.
The custody request is for seven people who are at a US military base in Djibouti, in East Africa, and whom the Trump administration intends to send to South Sudan.
Murphy explained that these individuals did not have the opportunity to oppose their transfer to South Sudan and recalled that officials must notify their intention “at least 72 hours in advance of the scheduled time” so that they can argue their fear of being sent to a third country.
South Sudan is a country that achieved independence from Sudan in 2011 after a long civil war and is currently experiencing a conflict between internal factions.
Why does Trump want to send immigrants to South Sudan?
“The United States is facing a crisis of illegal immigration, largely because many of the foreigners who most deserve to be deported are often the most difficult to deport,” the Department of Justice told the Supreme Court, as reported by the television network CNN.
The Executive has indicated that it has been faced with the intolerable dilemma of either holding these foreigners for further procedures at a military facility outside its territory or “returning these convicted criminals to the United States” after a lower court halted the process.
In recent weeks, the White House has acknowledged agreements with several countries to try to reach agreements on deportations, following those that already exist with El Salvador and that facilitated the expulsion of migrants -whose legality has been questioned by politicians, members of the judiciary, and organizations- from other Latin American countries such as Venezuela.