A federal judge on Wednesday ruled as illegal the policy of President Donald Trump’s administration that allows immigration authorities to deport migrants to third countries without giving them prior notice or an opportunity to object to the decision.
Judge Brian Murphy of the U.S. District of Massachusetts ruled against a policy issued last year stating that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was not required to inform aliens who would be removed to third countries, as long as the recipient governments ensured that the deportees would not be persecuted or tortured.
The Trump Administration has had several court battles over the removal of immigrants to third countries, as countries other than those designated in an immigrant’s deportation order are called.
Murphy ordered the third country deportation initiative rescinded, although he gave a 15-day wait for it to go into effect pending the Trump Administration’s appeal of the ruling.
Last year, the U.S. executive deported more than 200 Salvadorans to a maximum security prison in El Salvador under an old law of war.
Trump and his policies against migrants
In addition, the White House has entered into discussions with countries such as Costa Rica, Panama and Rwanda to accept deportees who are not citizens of those countries.
The plaintiffs in this case alleged that they had no knowledge that they would be sent to third countries, in many cases on another continent.
Murphy ruled that this policy violates federal immigration law and migrants’ right to due process and questioned that “no one really knows anything about these so-called ‘assurances,'” he wrote in the ruling.
“It’s not right, and it’s not legal,” added the judge, who has already ruled against the Trump administration for this measure.
Last May, Murphy ruled that the White House had violated an order by attempting to remove a group of immigrants with criminal records to South Sudan without giving them notice and without the ability to file fear-based complaints.
Trump took the case to the Supreme Court which allowed him to resume immigrant removals to third countries while the judge made a final ruling.
According to Agencia EFE, the White House is expected to repeat its legal strategy and even go to the courts to reverse Murphy’s ruling.
Find out more at ‘QueOnnda.com’.
