Deportation flights to Libya would violate court order without prior notice, federal judge says
A federal judge said Wednesday that any potential deportation flights to Libya or Saudi Arabia would violate a court order if the Trump administration does not provide advanced notification to the impacted illegal immigrants and their attorneys first.
The administration has not confirmed planned deportation flights to either country, but a group of attorneys representing illegal immigrants from nations including Vietnam, Laos and the Philippines claimed in court documents that their clients were told by immigration enforcement agents that they would soon be sent to Libya or Saudi Arabia.
Immigration lawyers asked U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy – who was nominated by former President Joe Biden – for a temporary restraining order Wednesday “to prevent non-citizen removals to third countries, including but not limited to Libya and Saudia Arabia, without prior written notice and a meaningful opportunity to raise fear-based claims.”
Murphy agreed with the immigration lawyers that the motion should not be required because deporting the illegal immigrants to Libya without a chance to claim convention against torture (CAT) protection would violate his prior court order.
“The April 18, 2025 Preliminary Injunction requires all third-country removals to be preceded, inter alia, by written notice to both the non-citizen and the non-citizen’s counsel in a language the non-citizen can understand as well as a meaningful opportunity for the non-citizen to raise a fear-based claim for CAT protection,” Murphy wrote Wednesday. “The April 30, 2025 Amendment to the Preliminary Injunction further clarifies that the Department of Homeland Security may not evade this injunction by ceding control over non-citizens or the enforcement of its immigration responsibilities to any other agency, including but not limited to the Department of Defense.”
“If there is any doubt—the Court sees none—the allegedly imminent removals, as reported by news agencies and as Plaintiffs seek to corroborate with class-member accounts and public information, would clearly violate this Court’s Order.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment on Thursday morning.
In their request seeking Murphy’s intervention, the immigration attorneys cited “alarming reports” late Tuesday and Wednesday morning from “class members’ counsel and from the press” announcing “the imminent removal” of Laotian, Vietnamese, and Philippine illegal immigrants “being prepared for removal to Libya, a [country] notorious for its human rights violations, especially with respect to migrant residents.”
“Class members were being scheduled for removal despite not receiving the required notice and opportunity to apply for CAT protection,” they wrote.
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The attorneys also cited a CNN report claiming that publicly available information “indicates that a C-17 flight is scheduled to fly on Wednesday from Kelly Field in San Antonio, Texas, to Misrata Airport in Libya.”
The Associated Press cited a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity Wednesday about alleged plans to fly migrants to Libya on a military plane. The official reportedly did not have details on the timing of the C-17 flight.
Libya has denied reports of a deportation deal with the U.S.
The Tripoli-based government of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah said in a statement Wednesday that there was “no deal or coordination” with the U.S. to receive migrants. However, it said “some parallel parties” could have agreed to receive them.
That appears to refer to its rival administration in east Libya, which is controlled by powerful military commander Khalifa Hifter. Libya has been split for years between rival administrations in the east and west, each backed by armed groups and foreign governments. The Hifter-led Libya National Army, which controls eastern and southern Libya, also released a statement, denying any deal or understanding to receive migrants from the U.S.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday directed questions to the Department of Homeland Security(DHS), according to the AP. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said during a news conference in Illinois that she “can’t confirm” media reports of plans to send people to Libya. The State Department told the AP it does not “discuss the details of our diplomatic communications with other governments.”
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The Trump administration has said it’s exploring other third countries for deportations. In addition to the Venezuelans sent to El Salvador, the administration has deported people to Panama and Costa Rica who were not citizens of those countries.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
