Some migrants were told they'd be sent to Libya, attorneys say as they
try to block the deportations
[May 08, 2025]
By REBECCA SANTANA, LINDSAY WHITEHURST and SAMY MAGDY
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. authorities informed some migrants of plans to
deport them to Libya, a country they are not from and that has a history
of human rights violations, attorneys said Wednesday. A judge said they
can’t be deported without a chance to challenge such a move in court.
The legal scramble comes as the Trump administration is pushing forward
with plans to carry out mass deportations, including efforts to send
migrants to a country where they are not a citizen. The most
controversial example of so-called third-country removals has been
sending Venezuelans to a notorious El Salvador prison.
Sending deportees to Libya, a country with a documented history of
migrant abuse, would mark a major escalation of the administration’s
push for third countries to take in people being removed from the United
States.
A U.S. official said earlier Wednesday there were plans to fly migrants
to Libya on a military plane but did not have details on the timing of
the C-17 flight. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss
military operations.
Immigration attorneys say some of their clients, including people from
Vietnam, Laos and the Philippines, were told by immigration enforcement
agents that they were going to be deported to Libya. Some were told they
were going to Saudi Arabia, they said.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers gathered six people who are
detained in southern Texas in a room early Tuesday and told them that
they needed to sign a document agreeing that they would be removed to
Libya, immigration attorneys representing people from Vietnam said in a
court filing, citing reports from relatives of those in detention.
“When they all refused, they were each put in a separate room and cuffed
in (basically, solitary) in order to get them to sign it,” the lawyers
wrote.
In another example, a lawyer for a man from the Philippines wrote to ICE
in San Antonio saying his client had learned he was going to be sent to
Libya. The attorney wrote that his client “fears being removed to Libya
and must therefore be provided with an interview before any removal
occurs.”
Judge says migrants must get a chance to contest deportations
The attorneys went to court Wednesday asking U.S. District Judge Brian
E. Murphy in Massachusetts to intervene. Murphy has been overseeing a
lawsuit against the Trump administration over its practice of deporting
people to countries where they are not citizens.
He ruled in March that even if people have otherwise exhausted their
legal appeals, they can’t be deported away from their homeland before
getting a “meaningful opportunity” to argue that it would jeopardize
their safety.
On Wednesday, he said any “allegedly imminent” removals to Libya would
“clearly violate this Court’s Order.” He also ordered the government to
hand over details about the claims.
In addition to the Venezuelans sent to El Salvador, the administration
has deported people to Panama and Costa Rica who were not citizens of
those countries.
[to top of second column]
|
The Bluebonnet Detention Center on Thursday, April 24, 2025, in
Anson, Texas (AP Photo/Eli Hartman)
Sending someone to a country that is not their own has raised a host
of questions about due process and, particularly in the case of El
Salvador, whether they are going to be subject to further abuse.
Outside of those three Central American nations, the Trump
administration has said it's exploring other third countries for
deportations. Asked Wednesday about whether Libya was one of those
countries, the administration had little to say.
President Donald Trump directed questions to the Department of
Homeland Security. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said during a news
conference in Illinois that she “can’t confirm” media reports of
plans to send people to Libya.
The State Department said it does not “discuss the details of our
diplomatic communications with other governments.”
Libya denies reports of a deportation deal
The Tripoli-based government of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah
said in a statement Wednesday that there was “no deal or
coordination” with the U.S. to receive migrants. However, it said
“some parallel parties” could have agreed to receive them.
That appears to refer to its rival administration in east Libya,
which is controlled by powerful military commander Khalifa Hifter.
Libya has been split for years between rival administrations in the
east and west, each backed by armed groups and foreign governments.
The Hifter-led Libya National Army, which controls eastern and
southern Libya, also released a statement, denying any deal or
understanding to receive migrants from the U.S.
“There won’t be any acceptance or reception of them (the migrants)
on the territories secured by the Libyan Armed Forces whatever the
reasons and justifications are,” it said.
Abuses against migrants in detention in Libya have been widely
documented, with U.N. investigators saying they had evidence of
possible crimes against humanity, including accounts of murder,
torture, enslavement, extrajudicial killings and rape.
Migrants have told The Associated Press about repeated beatings and
torture while ransoms were demanded of their families. Their bodies
showed traces of old and recent injuries, and signs of bullet and
knife wounds on their backs, legs, arms and faces.
___
Magdy reported from Cairo. AP writers Lolita C. Baldor and Seung Min
Kim in Washington and John O’Connor in Springfield, Illinois,
contributed to this report.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
