US deports South Asians to South Sudan despite court order
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US immigration officials have deported over a dozen South Asian migrants to South Sudan, violating a court order, as the latter faces renewed civil conflict.
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A Boeing C-17 of the US Air Force employed for deportation, photographed at the base of Fort Bliss, Texas, on February 13, 2025. (AFP)
US deportations of South Asian migrants have drawn renewed scrutiny after immigration authorities removed at least a dozen individuals to South Sudan, a country currently facing a resurgence of civil conflict. The deportations violate a prior court order, according to a legal filing submitted on Tuesday.
Immigration lawyers revealed the deportations in an emergency court filing, citing an email from a detention officer stating that a Burmese national, referred to as "N.M.," was "removed...to South Sudan."
The filing further indicated that a second migrant, a Vietnamese national identified as "T.T.P.," also appeared to have been deported, along with at least ten others. The attorneys emphasized that the removals occurred despite a judicial ruling that had previously halted such actions.
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On May 7, following reports that authorities were attempting to deport N.M. and others to Libya and Saudi Arabia, the court sided with the plaintiffs. The migrants were then returned to immigration detention after being kept for several hours on a bus parked on a military base's tarmac.
The legal filing underscored the dangers facing the deported individuals, noting that South Sudan's fragile peace agreement collapsed earlier this week.
Lawyers warned that the deportees were being sent into "a country that is now returning to full-blown and catastrophic civil war," raising alarm over potential violations of international human rights norms and migrant civil rights.
Trump administration’s immigration measures
These deportations come amid an expanding anti-immigration agenda under President Donald Trump.
In early April, the administration issued a visa ban targeting South Sudanese nationals, part of a broader tightening of US immigration policy.
Trump has repeatedly described migration to the US as an "invasion" by "foreign criminals."
In a separate case earlier this year, the administration used wartime authority to deport approximately 250 Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador without court hearings, accusing them of links to the Tren de Aragua gang, an allegation their families and attorneys have denied.
Earlier last week, a coalition of 20 Democratic-led states filed two federal lawsuits on May 13, challenging the Trump administration’s attempt to tie billions in federal funding to immigration enforcement cooperation.
The lawsuits, filed in federal court in Rhode Island, target the US Departments of Transportation and Homeland Security, accusing them of unlawfully using transportation, counterterrorism, and emergency preparedness grants to pressure states into cooperating with Trump’s strict immigration policies.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who is leading the legal effort, called the move “blatantly illegal", criticizing the administration for threatening to withhold funding unrelated to immigration enforcement.
"He’s treating these funds, which have nothing to do with immigration enforcement and everything to do with the safety of our communities, as a bargaining chip," according to a statement by Bonta.
The lawsuits argue that by conditioning federal grants on immigration cooperation, the administration is overstepping constitutional limits and infringing on Congress’s exclusive authority over federal spending.
