May 7, 2025 - Politics & Policy

Federal judge temporarily blocks deportations to Libya

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem gives a joint press conference with Colombian Foreign Minister Laura Sarabia after signing a Biometric Data Sharing Program Letter of Intent on March 27, 2025 in Bogota, Colombia. — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in Bogota, Colombia, earlier this year. Photo: Alex Brandon-Pool/Getty Images

The Trump administration can't immediately deport undocumented immigrants to Libya as it would "clearly violate" an earlier order blocking U.S. officials from sending people to countries they're not citizens of, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

Why it matters: Sending people to Libya, which a 2023 U.S. State Department report says has "harsh and life-threatening prison conditions," is a sign the Trump administration is stepping up its hardline immigration policy of deporting people to third countries, even in the face of court orders.

Driving the news: U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy granted the plaintiffs' request for a temporary restraining order "to prevent non-citizen removals to third countries, including but not limited to Libya and Saudi Arabia, without prior written notice and a meaningful opportunity to raise fear-based claims."

Among those affected are people from the Philippines, Vietnam and Laos, per a motion filed in U.S District Court in Massachusetts.
They're being set for removal "without any reasonable fear screening, let alone a fifteen-day window to file a motion to reopen with the immigration court to contest any negative reasonable fear determination," the plaintiffs argue.
Representatives for the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment Wednesday evening.

The intrigue: The Tripoli-based government of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah said in a statement posted on social media that it "firmly denies the existence of any agreement or coordination with US authorities regarding the deportation of migrants to Libya."

Go deeper: Court blocks Trump admin from sending Venezuelan immigrants to Guantánamo

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Federal judge temporarily blocks deportations to Libya

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