US judge limits Trump's ability to deport migrants

1/5/2025 5:48

A federal judge ordered the

Trump administration on Wednesday to ensure migrants held at

Guantanamo Bay are given a chance to raise any concerns about

their safety before deporting them to El Salvador or countries

other than their places of origin.



U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston issued the order

after immigrant rights advocates argued the administration had

violated a court order he issued by flying four Venezuelans held

at the U.S. naval base in Cuba to El Salvador on a flight

conducted by the U.S. Department of Defense.



Murphy in late March had issued a temporary restraining

order, which he later extended into an injunction, restricting

the Department of Homeland Security's ability to rapidly deport

migrants to countries other than their own without allowing them

to first raise concerns about their safety or potential torture.



Republican President Donald Trump's administration argued it

did not violate the judge's order as it only applied to the

Homeland Security Department, which oversees U.S. Immigration

and Customs Enforcement, not the Defense Department.



The U.S. Department of Justice called three of the four

migrants members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and said

the Department of Defense removed them to El Salvador without

the knowledge or direction of the Homeland Security Department.