The Trump administration has deported eight men convicted of serious crimes in the US to South Sudan, a country plagued by armed conflict and political instability. The deportations, which landed at midnight EST on Friday, mark an unprecedented new frontier in President Trump’s government-wide crackdown on illegal immigration.
Eight men from Cuba, Mexico, Laos, Myanmar, Sudan, and Vietnam were ordered deported after being convicted of crimes including murder, homicide, sexual assault, and robbery. None of the men are from South Sudan, but they will be sent to the country despite human rights concerns.
The deportations have alarmed human rights advocates, who fear the men could face jail time, torture or other harms in South Sudan. The US State Department warns Americans against all travel to South Sudan, yet deported these men there without any due process.
A high-profile legal battle over the fate of the men culminated when two federal judges denied a last-ditch attempt by immigration rights advocates to halt the deportations. However, one judge expressed concern about risks to the men’s physical safety and said the US government should not be in the business of inflicting pain and suffering on people who have already served their sentence.
The Supreme Court had previously paused a lower court ruling barring deportations to third-party countries without due process and notice. The Trump administration has claimed that South Sudanese officials have assured them that the deportees will not face torture, but human rights advocates disagree.
Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-deportation-asia-latin-america-criminal-records-south-sudan