A federal judge denied a last-ditch bid for legal protection from eight men seeking to stave off deportation to South Sudan. U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy’s decision came after a frenzied day in court by attorneys for the eight men, who initially filed an emergency petition in Washington, D.C., before a federal judge there sent the case back to Massachusetts.
The Supreme Court lifted an order by Murphy that had blocked the deportation two days earlier, paving the way for the men’s scheduled flight from Djibouti to South Sudan on Friday evening. The eight men, currently housed in a shipping container on a U.S. military base in Djibouti, have been marooned since May when Murphy halted their deportation.
Judge Randolph Moss concluded that the case should be handled in a single case instead of multiple cases around the country and denied the men’s motion to prevent the deportations. The Justice Department attorney Hashim Mooppan said the on-again-off-again orders from courts are complicating the already-difficult process of deporting individuals whose home countries refuse to take them back.
The Trump administration will appeal to a federal appeals court or the Supreme Court, if necessary, to carry out the deportation. The men’s fate remains uncertain as they wait for resolution from the courts.
Source: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/04/trump-south-sudan-deportation-00440024