A federal judge slapped new restrictions on President Trump’s deportation efforts, ruling that he can’t change the destination of migrants’ removal without giving them a chance to argue against it in court.
Judge Brian E. Murphy, a Biden appointee in Massachusetts, said the law allows migrants the opportunity to argue that they face the likelihood of torture if they’re sent to a particular country. If the U.S. suddenly wants to alter the destination for someone’s deportation, that migrant must be able to make a torture claim before an immigration judge.
Judge Murphy said his ruling applies not only to four named plaintiffs in his case, but also to “an individual subject to a final order of removal.”
He said they must be given a written notice of the new country they’re being deported to, and they must have a “meaningful opportunity” to seek relief under the Convention Against Torture.
The case comes as Mr. Trump and his team are trying to figure out ways to oust illegal immigrants whose home countries have been reluctant to take them back.
That’s been a particular issue for Venezuelans, where the Maduro regime has been uncooperative but Mr. Trump is intent on stepping up removals.
Earlier this month, Homeland Security flew three planeloads of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador to be held in one of that country’s prisons.
Lawyers said they doubted the migrants were given advance notice that their deportation location was being switched to El Salvador.
Another federal judge in the District of Columbia is looking into those cases, which were handled under the Alien Enemies Act.
In the case before Judge Murphy, one plaintiff — a Guatemalan man identified as OCG — said an immigration judge had agreed he wouldn’t be sent to his home country. In February he was deported to Mexico without advance notice.
Mexican authorities told him he could wait in detention in that country to apply for asylum or else head to Guatemala.
His lawyers said he’s currently hiding in Guatemala.
The lawyers said the number of people in danger of being removed to third countries is growing under Mr. Trump after Homeland Security adopted a policy pushing for third-country removal in long-standing cases where someone’s home country wasn’t an option.
Another plaintiff in the case, a Cuban identified as DVD, was ordered deported to Cuba in 2017 but has been on release ever since. Earlier this month he was told to report to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement by this week and he feared it was because he was going to be rearrested and removed to a third country.
Still another plaintiff, an Ecuadoran whose initials are EFD, was arrested March 18 by ICE officers who were looking for a co-worker, the lawyers said. They said EFD was granted protection from going to Ecuador and now fears being sent to another country.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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