A US federal judge has temporarily halted the Trump administration’s plans to deport Asian migrants to Libya, following an urgent appeal from their legal representatives. The decision, handed down on Wednesday by District Judge Brian Murphy, ruled that such removals would breach a prior court order that migrants must be given a genuine opportunity to contest their deportation and demonstrate a risk of persecution.
The ruling was in response to a legal challenge brought on behalf of migrants from Laos, the Philippines, and Vietnam, whose attorneys argued that their clients were in imminent danger of being sent to Libya — a country widely condemned for its human rights record. Judge Murphy said that reports suggesting the deportations were about to take place directly contradicted his injunction.
He further stressed that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) could not circumvent the court’s orders by shifting its responsibilities to another body, including the Department of Defense.
The news agency Reuters was first to report on the alleged plan to deport the migrants via a US military aircraft. When questioned about this at a White House event, President Donald Trump said he had no knowledge of the plan.
Trump has long promised mass deportations of undocumented migrants and earlier this year invoked the rarely-used 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan suspects to El Salvador. However, judges have since blocked such efforts, referencing the law’s historical misuse — most infamously during World War II when Japanese-Americans were interned.
Libya’s internationally recognised Tripoli-based Government of National Unity (GNU) denied reaching any deal with the US to accept migrants. It warned that “unauthorised” parties might be making such arrangements without the legal authority to represent Libya.
A separate statement from Libya’s eastern administration — backed by commander Khalifa Haftar — also denied any agreement with the US on resettling foreign nationals.
Libya has remained unstable and politically divided since the fall of longtime leader Moamer Kadhafi in 2011.
