A federal judge has placed a hold on the U.S. government’s plans to deport a number of immigrants to Libya, following allegations from immigrants, their families and their lawyers that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials told them they would soon be sent to that country.

The injunction placed by U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy states that the Trump administration’s actions would “clearly violate” a previous order he made, violating immigrants’ right to challenge their expulsion to countries other than their homelands.

Murphy also ordered that the U.S. government — which hasn’t formally acknowledged whether or not it is planning to deport people to Libya — hand over any details relating to claims that they are planning such a move, if such details exist.

The immigrants in question are reportedly from the Philippines, Vietnam and Laos, among other countries, according to a report from NBC News. In the legal motion seeking the injunction, lawyers claimed that their clients are being targeted for deportation “without any reasonable fear screening, let alone a fifteen-day window to file a motion to reopen with the immigration court to contest any negative reasonable fear determination.”

Department of Homeland Security........

© Truthout