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Deportations
The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed on "humanitarian grounds" the entry of a pregnant woman and her eight-year-old child into India, months after they were pushed into Bangladesh. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi asked the West Bengal government to take care of the minor and directed the chief medical officer of Birbhum district to provide all possible medical assistance to the pregnant woman Sunali Khatun. The bench noted the submission of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, that the competent authority has agreed to allow the woman and her child into the country purely on humanitarian grounds and they would be kept under surveillance. The top court said they would eventually be brought back to Delhi from where they were picked up and deported to Bangladesh. Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Sanjay Hegde urged the court that there were others also, including Sunali's husband who are in Bangladesh and need to be brought back to
The US government plans to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Liberia, and could do so as early as Octobrt 31, according to a Friday court filing. The Salvadoran national's case has become a magnet for opposition to President Donald Trump's immigration policies since he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, in violation of a settlement agreement. He was returned to the US in June after the US Supreme Court said the administration had to work to bring him back. Since he cannot be re-deported to El Salvador, ICE has been seeking to deport him to a series of African countries. Meanwhile, a federal judge in Maryland has previously barred his immediate deportation. Abrego Garcia's lawsuit there claims the Trump administration is illegally using the deportation process to punish him for the embarrassment of his earlier mistaken deportation. A Friday court filing from the Department of Homeland Security notes that Liberia is a thriving democracy and one of the United States's closest partner
A federal judge has lifted travel restrictions for Mahmoud Khalil, allowing the Palestinian activist to speak at rallies and other events across the US as he fights his deportation case brought by the Trump administration. Khalil, who was freed from a Louisiana immigration jail in June, had asked a federal magistrate judge to lift the restrictions that limited his travel to New York, New Jersey, Washington, DC, Louisiana and Michigan. "He wants to travel for the very significant First Amendment reasons that are at the bottom of this case," his lawyer, Alina Das, said during a virtual hearing on Thursday. "He wants to speak to issues of public concern." An attorney for the government, Aniello DeSimone, opposed the move, arguing that Khalil "has not provided enough of a reason why he could not attend these and other events telephonically". The magistrate judge, Michael Hammer, agreed on Thursday to allow Khalil to travel, noting he is not considered a flight risk and had not violated
Scores of political prisoners pardoned by the authoritarian leader of Belarus sat on a bus waiting to cross the border with Lithuania last month, minutes from freedom. Suddenly, one of them stood up, forced the door open and got off, defiantly refusing to leave his homeland in what he called as a forced deportation. Since that incident on September 11, Mikalai Statkevich hasn't been seen. Human rights activists are demanding that Belarusian authorities reveal what has happened to the 69-year-old opposition politician and former presidential candidate. Statkevich was one of 52 political prisoners pardoned by President Alexander Lukashenko as part of a deal brokered by the United States. Fellow political prisoner Maksim Viniarski, who was travelling with him on the bus, told The Associated Press that Statkevich looked determined ready to fight not only for himself, but for the freedom of all Belarusians. When the emaciated Statkevich bolted from the bus, he left behind his critical
A federal judge on Thursday blocked President Donald Trump's administration from immediately deporting Guatemalan migrant children who came to the US alone back to their home country, the latest step in a court struggle over one of the most sensitive issues in Trump's hard-line immigration agenda. The decision by US District Judge Timothy J Kelly comes after the Republican administration's Labor Day weekend attempt to remove Guatemalan migrant children who were living in government shelters and foster care. Trump administration officials said they were seeking to reunify children with parents who wanted them returned home. But that explanation crumbled like a house of cards about a week later," Kelly, who was nominated by Trump, wrote. There is no evidence before the Court that the parents of these children sought their return. Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a statement insisted on the administration's initial claims that parents requested being reunited
India is among the countries being added to an expanded UK government list of countries where foreign criminals will be deported once they are sentenced before their appeals are heard as part of measures to crack down on rising migration to the country. In an announcement on Sunday, the UK Home Office confirmed that the scope of its Deport Now Appeal Later scheme will be nearly trebled from eight countries to 23, with foreign nationals from these countries to be deported to their home countries before they can appeal against that decision. Foreigners who have had their human rights claim refused will have a chance to take part in their UK appeal hearing remotely from overseas using video technology. For far too long, foreign criminals have been exploiting our immigration system, remaining in the UK for months or even years while their appeals drag on. That has to end, said Home Secretary Yvette Cooper. Those who commit crimes in our country cannot be allowed to manipulate the syste
The Justice Department on Monday filed a misconduct complaint against the federal judge who has clashed with President Donald Trump 's administration over deportations to a notorious prison in El Salvador. Escalating the administration's conflict with U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg, Attorney General Pam Bondi said on social media that she directed the filing of the complaint against Boasberg for making improper public comments about President Trump and his administration. The complaint stems from remarks Boasberg allegedly made in March to Chief Justice John Roberts and other federal judges saying the administration would trigger a constitutional crisis by disregarding federal court rulings, according to a copy of the complaint obtained by The Associated Press. The comments have undermined the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary, the complaint says, adding that the administration has always complied with all court orders. Boasberg is among several judges who have ...
Germany deported dozens of Afghan nationals to their homeland on Friday, the second time it has done so since the Taliban returned to power and the first since a new government pledging a tougher line on migration took office in Berlin. The Interior Ministry said a flight took off Friday morning carrying 81 Afghans, all of them men who had previously come to judicial authorities' attention. It said in a statement that the deportation was carried out with the help of Qatar, and said the government aims to deport more people to Afghanistan in the future. More than 10 months ago, Germany's previous government deported Afghan nationals to their homeland for the first time since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz vowed to step up deportations of asylum-seekers. New Chancellor Friedrich Merz made tougher migration policy a central plank of his campaign for Germany's election in February. Just after he took office in early May, the government stationed more
South Sudan has accepted eight third-country deportees from the U.S. and Rwanda says it's in talk with the administration of President Donald Trump on a similar deal, while Nigeria says it's rejecting pressure to do the same. Although few details are known, these initiatives in Africa mark an expansion in U.S. efforts to deport people to countries other than their own. The United States has sent hundreds of Venezuelans and others to Costa Rica, El Salvador and Panama but has yet to announce any major deals with governments in Africa, Asia or Europe. While proponents see such programs as a way of deterring what they describe as unmanageable levels of migration, human rights advocates have raised concerns over sending migrants to countries where they have no ties or that may have a history of rights violations. Last year, U.K. Supreme Court ruled that a similar plan to deport rejected asylum-seekers to Rwanda was illegal. Trump meets with West African leaders Earlier this week, Trum
On a recent afternoon, Mahmoud Khalil sat in his Manhattan apartment, cradling his 10-week-old son as he thought back to the pre-dawn hours spent pacing a frigid immigration jail in Louisiana, awaiting news of the child's birth in New York. For a moment, the outspoken Palestinian activist found himself uncharacteristically speechless. I cannot describe the pain of that night, Khalil said finally, gazing down as the baby, Deen, cooed in his arms. This is something I will never forgive. Now, weeks after regaining his freedom, Khalil is seeking restitution. On Thursday, his lawyers filed a claim for $20 million in damages against the Trump administration, alleging Khalil was falsely imprisoned, maliciously prosecuted and smeared as an antisemite as the government sought to deport him over his prominent role in campus protests. The filing a precursor to a lawsuit under the Federal Tort Claims Act names the Department of Homeland Security, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and th
The Trump administration will restrict immigrants in the country illegally from enrolling in Head Start, a federally funded preschool program, the Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday. The move is part of a broad effort to limit access to federal benefits for immigrants who lack legal status. People in the country illegally are largely ineligible for federal public benefits such as food stamps, student loans and financial aid for higher education. But for decades they have been able to access some community-level programs such as Head Start and community health centers. HHS said it will reclassify those programs as federal public benefits, excluding immigrants in the country illegally from accessing them. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the changes were part of a larger effort to protect American citizens' interests. For too long, the government has diverted hardworking Americans' tax dollars to incentivize illegal immigration, Kennedy said in a ...
The US government would initiate deportation proceedings against Kilmar Abrego Garcia if he's released from jail before he stands trial on human smuggling charges in Tennessee, a Justice Department attorney told a federal judge in Maryland on Monday. The disclosure by US lawyer Jonathan Guynn contradicts statements by spokespeople for the Justice Department and the White House, who said last month that Abrego Garcia would stand trial and possibly spend time in an American prison before the government moves to deport him. Guynn made the revelation during a federal court hearing in Maryland, where Abrego Garcia's American wife is suing the Trump administration over his mistaken deportation in March and trying to prevent him from being expelled again. Guynn said US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement would detain Abrego Garcia once he's released from jail and send him to a third country that isn't his native El Salvador. However, Guynn said he didn't know which country that would be.
The Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the way for the deportation of several immigrants who were put on a flight in May bound for South Sudan, a war-ravaged country where they have no ties. The decision comes after the justices found that immigration officials can quickly deport people to third countries. The majority halted an order that had allowed immigrants to challenge any removals to countries outside their homeland where they could be in danger. The court's latest order makes clear that the South Sudan flight detoured weeks ago can now complete the trip. It reverses findings from federal Judge Brian Murphy in Massachusetts, who said his order on those migrants still stands even after the court lifted his broader decision. The Trump administration has called the judge's finding a lawless act of defiance. Attorneys for the eight migrants have said they could face imprisonment, torture and even death if sent to South Sudan, where escalating political tensions have threatened t