Trump’s attempt to deport Asian immigrants to Libya blocked

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the Trump administration’s plan to deport Asian immigrants to Libya would violate an existing court order requiring due process before sending migrants to countries other than their place of origin.

About the deportation plan: The government had prepared to transport immigrants from Laos, Vietnam and the Philippines on a C-17 aircraft from Kelly Field in San Antonio to Misrata Airport in Libya, according to flight plans. Immigration officials allegedly pressured detainees to sign deportation documents. Those who refused were placed in separate rooms and handcuffed “in order to get them to sign it,” immigration lawyer Trina Realmuto noted. On Wednesday morning, migrants were bused from a detention center in Pearsall, Texas, to an airfield where they waited for hours before being returned without explanation, attorney Tin Thanh Nguyen told Reuters.

Order blocked: In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy emphasized that the proposed deportations “would clearly violate” the preliminary injunction he issued in April requiring the government to provide migrants with adequate notice and opportunity to contest removal to third countries. The lawyers argued in their filing that migrants sent to Libya would face “a strong likelihood of imprisonment followed by torture and even disappearance or death.”

The big picture: The attempted deportations mark an escalation of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. Libya’s competing governments both rejected the deportation plan, with Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh stating that Libya “refuses to be a destination for the deportation of migrants under any pretext.” Following the judge’s ruling, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller criticized the decision as a “judicial coup” on social media.

Officials have yet to announce whether they still plan to pursue deportations to Libya or other third countries.