The new guidelines issued in March by the Ministry of the Interior regarding expulsions to third countries were deemed “illegal” by Judge Brian Murphy, who is handling the case.
A federal judge in the United States declared on Wednesday illegal the policy adopted by the Trump administration to expel immigrants in irregular situations to third countries. This judge in Boston, Brian Murphy, however, temporarily suspends the implementation of his decision for 15 days to allow the administration to appeal, considering “the importance and unusual history of this case.”
The question at hand is whether “the government can, without notice, expel a person to the wrong country, or a country where they will likely be persecuted or tortured,” he writes. In this case, the magistrate had previously temporarily blocked expulsions of foreigners of Asian origin to Libya back in March.
He also suspended in April the expulsion of other foreigners to South Sudan, arguing that individuals targeted for expulsion to a country other than their own must be informed, and then provided with a significant period to appeal based on the United Nations Convention against Torture.
A program of massive expulsions restrained by the judiciary
Several times in this procedure, “the government has repeatedly violated, or attempted to violate, the decisions of this court,” laments the judge, echoing the grievances expressed by many of his colleagues towards the Trump administration, particularly in immigration matters. He cites the “lies” of the government about the fears expressed by one of the plaintiffs in this case regarding his expulsion to Mexico.
After the individual was granted a decision preventing his expulsion to Guatemala, his country of origin, “due to sexual violence he had suffered there,” the executive “put him on a bus to Mexico, where he had just been raped, and from where he was quickly sent back to Guatemala,” the magistrate deplores.
President Donald Trump has prioritized the fight against illegal immigration as an absolute priority, citing an “invasion” of the United States by “foreign criminals” and extensively publicizing the expulsions of immigrants.
However, his program of mass expulsions has been thwarted or hindered by multiple court decisions, including from the mostly conservative Supreme Court, on the grounds that individuals targeted should be able to assert their rights.
