SILVER SPRING, MD — HIAS condemns the deportation of eight immigrants who reportedly had a final destination of South Sudan. This is just the latest example of the administration’s blatant disregard for the rule of law, due process, and the rulings of multiple courts.
“Yet again, the Trump Administration is knowingly sending people to extreme danger, compromising their lives and safety, for a political stunt,” said Naomi Steinberg, HIAS Vice President of U.S. Policy and Advocacy. “Shipping people under the cover of darkness, to a country to which they have never been and in which they have no connections, especially a country in turmoil, is unconscionable.”
The State Department has a Level 4 travel advisory for South Sudan, classifying it as a high-risk location due to crime, kidnapping, and armed conflict. It is just one of several countries that the Trump administration is reportedly considering as destinations for deported immigrants, an expansion of an existing policy of flying deportees to El Salvador.
Should the detainees be accepted by the South Sudanese government, it also would violate an April ruling of U.S. District Court Judge Brian Murphy that mandates that people receive at least 15 days’ notice before being deported to a country of which they are not a citizen — a status applicable to seven of the eight immigrants in custody.
HIAS calls for the Trump administration to immediately return the deportees and afford them the due process that they were previously denied. As a Jewish and humanitarian organization, HIAS will continue to raise our voice on behalf of immigrants whose rights are being violated.
