A federal court ordered the Trump administration on Tuesday to maintain custody of migrants on a deportation flight that immigrants’ lawyers said was headed to South Sudan, a transfer the judge said appeared to violate an injunction he issued in April.
Judge Murphy: “Where is the plane?”
Justice Dept. Lawyer: “I’m told that that information is classified, and I am told that the final destination is also classified…”
Judge Murphy asked what authority the government was using to classify the location of the deportation flight.
Justice Dept. Lawyer: “I don’t have the answer to that…”
It was not immediately clear what punishment, if any, Judge Murphy intended to mete out against the administration or those who took part in the operation, but he asked for a list of names so he can notify them that they might all face criminal contempt penalties.
The standoff in Judge Murphy’s Boston courtroom is one of several deportation proceedings in which the administration has faced accusations of both denying immigrants due process and of flouting court orders.
“As is becoming far too common,” appeals court judge Roger Gregory wrote, “we are confronted again with the efforts of the executive branch to set aside the rule of law in pursuit of its goals.”
Date: 05/21/2025
Source: New York Times
URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/20/us/politics/trump-immigration-deportations-south-sudan.html
