Trump Administration Makes Good on Threat to Illegally Send Asian Migrants to Africa
By Romen Basu Borsellino | 21 May, 2025

The Administration was recently reprimanded for plans to send Asian immigrants to Libya. They have now sent a plane carrying natives of Asia to South Sudan.

The Trump Administration has made good on recent threats to send Asian migrants from the US to Africa. Less than two weeks ago, US District Judge Brian Murphy responded to an alleged plot by the Administration to send migrants from Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam to Libya by reaffirming his previous blockade on sending anyone to a country that wasn’t their own. While deportations to Libya do not appear to have come to fruition, a plane carrying migrants from Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cuba, Mexico, and South Sudan was sent to South Sudan on Tuesday morning.

In a hearing in Massachusetts on Wednesday, Judge Murphy ruled that the Trump administration did so illegally given his previous rulings. Murphy stated that “The department’s actions are unquestionably violative of this court’s order.” 

This all began earlier this week when lawyers of the detainees asked for an emergency hearing  upon catching wind of the Department of Homeland Security’s plans. In Wednesday’s hearing, Murphy read through a timeline of the event: The detainees received notice of their impending flight on Monday evening “outside of business hours.” The plane departed the next morning. This timeline, Murphy stated, did not allow his clients “to have a meaningful opportunity to object.”

Further highlighting the dysfunction and incoherence of those overseeing deportations, the migrants’ lawyers cited a separate email telling their clients that they were being sent to South Africa, which was recalled just ten minutes after being sent. While there may have been a separate plan to send migrants to South Africa, it would not be unsurprising to learn that the Administration simply confused the two countries in their first email. 

It remains unclear why this administration seems dead set on sending Asians to Africa, but there are unfortunate similarities between Libya and South Sudan in their track record of human rights abuses.

Since the 2011 founding of South Sudan, the world’s youngest country has faced brutal conflict including a bloody civil war and another potential one on the horizon.  The US Department of State has issued a level four travel advisory against South Sudan — the highest level  — citing "crime, kidnapping, and armed conflict." The lawyers for the migrants told Judge Murphy deportation to South Sudan would cause their clients " a strong likelihood of irreparable harm.”

Attorneys for the Trump Administration have acknowledged that the plane has landed, but would not specify where. They also stated that the migrants are still in ICE custody. 

In GoldSea’s previous coverage of the alleged Libya deportation plan, we posed the following question:

"Will the Trump Administration follow Judge Murphy’s orders? While failing to do so would be a blatant disregard for the constitution, it would be nothing new for this Administration."

It appears that we were unfortunately right to ask.