Judge refuses to reconsider finding DHS violated court order
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President Donald Trump boards Air Force One to depart Joint Base Andrews, Md., Friday, May 23, 2025 (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta).

A federal judge in Massachusetts will not halt an order from last week finding that Trump administration had violated a preliminary injunction when it summarily removed six migrants to war-torn South Sudan — a country none of the migrants are from — without due process or a reasonable opportunity for them to raise concerns that they could face persecution or torture.

U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy, who has already indicated that the violation could amount to criminal contempt of court, scolded the administration on Monday for misrepresenting both the court’s previous order and the positions taken by attorneys from the Department of Justice during the proceedings.

ā€œDefendants have mischaracterized this Court’s order, while at the same time manufacturing the very chaos they decry,ā€ Murphy wrote in the 17-page order. ā€œBy racing to get six class members onto a plane to unstable South Sudan, clearly in breach of the law and this Court’s order, Defendants gave this Court no choice but to find that they were in violation of the Preliminary Injunction.ā€

Murphy last month issued a preliminary injunction barring the government from sending migrants to third countries without giving them a ā€œreasonable opportunityā€ to raise concerns about that country and the possible violence they could face under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). Last week, he called an emergency hearing after the administration removed the six migrants to South Sudan with less than 16 hours of advanced notice, ā€œmost of which were non-waking hours, none within the business day.ā€ The detainees also had virtually no means of communication after being informed of their removal.

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During the emergency hearing, the DOJ asserted that administration officials misunderstood Murphy’s injunction because he had not been specific enough regarding what a ā€œreasonable opportunityā€ to express fear entailed.

The court ordered the administration to keep the detainees onboard the plane in South Sudan until they were provided reasonable fear interviews. The court also imposed a minimum of 10 days for detainees to rase fear-based claims under CAT prior to removals to third countries. At the suggestion of the DOJ, Murphy allowed the government to ā€œkeep the individuals out of the country and finish their process abroad.ā€

The Justice Department responded by claiming the court’s order was ā€œextraordinaryā€ and imposed ā€œhighly burdensome requirementsā€ on the government to keep the ā€œdangerous criminalsā€ detained in a ā€œsensitive locationā€ without ā€œclear knowledge of when, how, or where this Court will tolerate their release.ā€

The DOJ further asserted that Murphy’s order placed ā€œimpermissibleā€ constraints on President Donald Trump’s ability to carry out his Article II powers, including ā€œhis powers to command the military, manage relations with foreign nations, and execute our nation’s immigration authorities.ā€

ā€œThe Court’s Orders are premised on an erroneous conclusion that Defendants failed to provide ā€˜meaningful opportunity’ for six class members to assert a claim for protection under CAT, despite having allowed the six class members an opportunity that is eminently reasonable in the removal context,ā€ the DOJ wrote in the motion seeking reconsideration or a stay pending appeal. ā€œMoreover, the Orders impermissibly infringe on the President’s inherent Article II authority to conduct foreign affairs and serve as Commander-in-Chief. The Orders also improperly interfere with the President’s ability to faithfully execute immigration laws.ā€

But the government’s complaints fell on deaf ears, as Murphy explained that his order never required the government to conduct their proceedings overseas, writing that the administration could ā€œsimply return to the status quo of roughly one week agoā€ by returning the migrants to the U.S. or choose ā€œany other location to complete the required process.ā€

ā€œIt cannot be said enough that this is the result Defendants asked for,ā€ Murphy wrote. ā€œIn doing so, the Court offered Defendants a method of compliance that both guaranteed the procedural rights due to the class members but was less exacting than having to turn around a chartered plane. The Court considered Defendants’ prerogative in the sensitive and political areas of immigration and foreign policy and offered Defendants complete discretion to provide these interviews in the time and manner they deemed best.ā€

The judge continued to criticize the administration for complaining about the ā€œhardshipā€ of having to carry out ā€œimpromptu immigration proceedings on foreign soil,ā€ saying ā€œthat was — and continues to be — Defendants’ daily choice,ā€ adding, ā€œTo say more would be to paint the lily.ā€

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