'Unquestionably in violation': Judge says US government didn't follow court order on deportations

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House violated a court order on deportations to third countries with a flight linked to the chaotic African nation of South Sudan, a federal judge said Wednesday, hours after the Trump administration said it had expelled eight immigrants convicted of violent crimes but refused to reveal where they would end up. The judge's statement was a notably strong rebuke to the government's deportation efforts.

In an emergency hearing he called to address reports that immigrants had been sent to South Sudan, Judge Brian E. Murphy in Boston said the eight migrants aboard the plane were not given a meaningful opportunity to object that the deportation could put them in danger. Minutes before the hearing, administration officials accused “activist judges” of advocating the release of dangerous criminals.

“The department actions in this case are unquestionably in violation of this court’s order,” Murphy said Wednesday, arguing that the deportees didn’t have “meaningful opportunity” to object to being sent to South Sudan. The group was flown out of the United States just hours after getting notice, leaving them no chance to contact lawyers who could object in court.

Government attorneys argued that the men had a history with the immigration system, giving them prior opportunities to express a fear of being deported to a country outside their homeland. They also pointed out that the judge had not specified the exact time needed between notice and deportation, leaving room for misunderstanding.

The migrants’ home countries — Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar, Vietnam and South Sudan — would not take them back, according to Todd Lyons, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who spoke to reporters in Washington. He later said the migrants either came from countries that often do not take back all their deported citizens or had other situations that meant they could not be sent home.

“These represent the true national security threats,” Lyons said at a news conference. Behind him was a display of photos of men he said had been convicted of rape, homicide, armed robbery and other crimes.

Administration officials, who have repeatedly clashed with the courts over their attempts to deport large numbers of immigrants, made their displeasure clear Wednesday.

President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem “are working every single day to get these vicious criminals off of American streets — and while activist judges are on the other side, fighting to get them back onto the United States soil,” said Tricia McLaughlin, a department spokesperson. She pointed to the photographs and described them as “the monsters” that Murphy “is trying to protect.”

Homeland Security officials released few specific details about the deportation flight. They said it left Tuesday with eight people on board and said they remained in the department's custody Wednesday. Officials said they could not disclose the migrants' final destination because of “safety and operational security.”

The case comes amid a sweeping immigration crackdown by the Republican administration, which has pledged to deport millions of people who are living in the United States illegally. The legal fight is the latest flashpoint as the administration rails against judges whose rulings have slowed the president’s policies.

With Congress largely silent or supportive, opponents of Trump's agenda have filed hundreds of lawsuits and judges have issued dozens of orders against the administration. Immigration has been the most contentious issue. There was the mistaken deportation of an immigrant who was living in Maryland to a prison in El Salvador, as well as Trump’s push to swiftly deport alleged Venezuelan gang members without a court review.

The administration officials insisted that the deported men had received due process, but did not provide details. Immigration-rights attorneys argue they violated Murphy's order, first handed down in March, that says people must have a chance to argue that going somewhere outside their homeland would put them in danger before being deported, even if they've otherwise exhausted their legal appeals.

“The government is still refusing to provide due process to our clients, which means they are not giving them notice of the country to which they’re being deported, proper notice in a language that they understand, and not giving them a meaningful opportunity to claim fear based on those countries,” Trina Realmuto, the executive director of the National Immigration Litigation Alliance, said outside court.

“These are countries that the State Department doesn’t want Americans to travel to. They are categorically not safe,” she added.

In court, Realmuto asked the judge to return the individuals to the United States. “They are no less deserving of protection than any other human beings on this planet,” she said.

The government argued the interviews with the men over their fears could be done where they are currently being held and confirmed with Murphy that they can be arranged. Realmuto called this a “logistical nightmare” that penalizes the men because the government violated the judge’s order. She said it would prove a challenge to get the men legal counsel and interpreters, an effort complicated by the time difference.

Murphy, who raised the prospect of criminal contempt for anyone “involved in an illegal deportation,” later Wednesday ordered the government conduct a new set of interviews with the migrants if an appropriate place with appropriate privacy can be found. He said the government was welcome to bring the migrants back, but did not order they do so.

On Twitter late Wednesday, DHS' McLaughlin called the order “deranged.”

Attorneys for the immigrants told the judge that immigration authorities may have sent as many as a dozen people from several countries to Africa.

The apparent removal of one man from the troubled Southeast Asian nation of Myanmar was confirmed in an email from an immigration official in Texas, according to court documents. He was informed only in English, a language he does not speak well, and his lawyers learned of the plan hours before his deportation flight, they said.

A woman also reported that her husband from Vietnam and up to 10 other people were flown to Africa on Tuesday morning, attorneys from the National Immigration Litigation Alliance wrote.

Murphy, who was nominated by Democratic President Joe Biden, previously found that any plans to deport people to Libya without notice would “clearly” violate his ruling.

South Sudan’s police spokesperson, Maj. Gen. James Monday Enoka, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that no migrants had arrived in the country and that if they do, they would be investigated and “redeported to their correct country” if found not to be South Sudanese.

Edmund Yakani, executive director of the South Sudanese group Community Empowerment for Progress Organization, questioned why people convicted of crimes in the United States would be sent there. “Is South Sudan a land of less human who deserve to receive perpetrators of human rights violations? Without any public explanation?” he asked.

Some countries do not accept deportations from the United States. That has led the administration to strike agreements with other countries, including Panama, to house them. The U.S. has sent Venezuelans to a notorious prison in El Salvador under an 18th-century wartime law, an action being contested in the courts.

South Sudan has endured repeated waves of violence since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011 amid hopes it could use its large oil reserves to bring prosperity to a region long battered by poverty. Just weeks ago, the country’s top U.N. official warned that fighting between forces loyal to the president and a vice president threatened to spiral again into full-scale civil war.

The State Department’s annual report on South Sudan, published in April 2024, says “significant human rights issues” include arbitrary killings, disappearances, torture or inhumane treatment by security forces and extensive violence based on gender and sexual identity.

The Homeland Security Department has given Temporary Protected Status to a small number of South Sudanese already living in the United States, shielding them from deportation because conditions were deemed unsafe for return. Noem recently extended those protections to November to allow for a more thorough review.

The U.S is one of the biggest donors to South Sudan’s humanitarian aid programs, with the total funding in 2024 standing at over $640 million.

Casey reported from Boston and Sullivan from Minneapolis. Elliot Spagat in San Diego and Khaled Kazziha in Nairobi contributed to this report.

Lawyers for several individuals facing deportation speak to the media Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in Boston, after a federal judge ruled the White House violated a court order on deportations to third countries with a flight linked to the chaotic African nation of South Sudan. (AP Photo/Michael Casey)

Acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Todd Lyons flanked by Deputy director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Madison Sheahan, speaks during a news conference at ICE Headquarters, in Washington, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin flanked by Acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Todd Lyons speaks during a news conference at ICE Headquarters, in Washington, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin flanked by Deputy director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Madison Sheahan, left, and Acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Todd Lyons, speaks during a news conference at ICE Headquarters, in Washington, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Deputy director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Madison Sheahan speaks during a news conference at ICE Headquarters, in Washington, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Todd Lyons speaks during a news conference at ICE Headquarters, in Washington, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin speaks during a news conference at ICE Headquarters, in Washington, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Todd Lyons speaks during a news conference at ICE Headquarters, in Washington, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem smiles at the commencement for the United States Coast Guard Academy, Wednesday, May 21, 2025 in New London, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

FILE - Internally displaced people walk along a street in Juba, South Sudan, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga, File)

FILE - In this Sunday, July 10, 2011 file photo, Southern Sudanese wave the national flag in the capital Juba. (AP Photo/Pete Muller, File)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, testifies before a Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing to examine President Donald Trump's proposed budget request for fiscal year 2026 for the Department of Homeland Security on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, May 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — Federal immigration authorities said Friday they arrested about 200 immigrants suspected of being in the country illegally in raids a day earlier on two California cannabis farm sites. Protesters engaged in a tense standoff with authorities during an operation at one of the farms where a farmworker was gravely injured.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that authorities executed criminal search warrants in Carpinteria and Camarillo, California, on Thursday. They arrested immigrants suspected of being in the country illegally, and there were also at least 10 immigrant children on site, the statement said.

Four U.S. citizens were arrested for “assaulting or resisting officers,” the department said. Authorities were offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of one person suspected of firing a gun at federal agents. At least one worker was hospitalized with grave injuries.

During the raid, crowds of people gathered outside Glass House Farms at the Camarillo location to demand information about their relatives and protest immigration enforcement. A chaotic scene emerged outside the farm that grows tomatoes, cucumbers and cannabis as authorities clad in military-style helmets and uniforms faced off with the demonstrators. Acrid green and white billowing smoke then forced community members to retreat.

Glass House, a licensed California cannabis grower, said in a statement that immigration agents had valid warrants. The company said workers were detained, and it is helping provide them with legal representation.

“Glass House has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors,” the statement said.

It is legal to grow and sell cannabis in California with proper licensing. State records show the company has multiple active licenses to cultivate cannabis.

At least 12 people were injured during the raid and protest at the farm in Camarillo, said Andrew Dowd, a spokesperson for the Ventura County Fire Department. Eight were taken to Saint John's St. John’s Regional Medical Center and the Ventura County Medical Center, and four were treated at the scene and released. Dowd said he did not have information on the extent of the injuries of those hospitalized.

On Friday, about two dozen people waited outside the Camarillo farm to retrieve the cars of loved ones and speak to managers about what happened. Relatives of Jaime Alanis, who has worked picking tomatoes at the farm for 10 years, said he called his wife in Mexico during the raid to tell her immigration agents had arrived and that he was hiding with others inside the farm.

“The next thing we heard was that he was in the hospital with broken hands, ribs and a broken neck,” Juan Duran, Alanis’ brother-in-law, said in Spanish, his voice breaking.

It was not immediately clear how Alanis was injured. A doctor at Ventura County Medical Center told the family that those who brought Alanis to the hospital said he had fallen from the roof of a building.

Alanis had a broken neck, fractured skull and a rupture in an artery that pumps blood to the brain, said his niece Yesenia, who didn’t want to share her last name for fear of reprisal.

“They told us he won’t make it and to say goodbye,” Yesenia said, crying.

The hospital did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

After immigration agents arrived at Glass House's farm in Camarillo on Thursday morning, workers called family members to let them know authorities were there. Relatives and advocates headed to the farm some 50 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of downtown Los Angeles to try to find out what was going on, and began protesting outside.

Federal authorities formed a line blocking the road leading through farm fields to the company's greenhouses. Protesters were seen shouting at agents wearing camouflage gear, helmets and gas masks. The billowing smoke drove protesters to retreat. It wasn’t clear why authorities threw the canisters or if they released chemicals such as tear gas.

Ventura County fire authorities responding to a 911 call of people having trouble breathing said three people were taken to nearby hospitals.

At the farm, agents arrested workers and removed them by bus. Others, including U.S. citizens, were detained at the site for hours while agents investigated.

The incident came as federal immigration agents have ramped up arrests in Southern California at car washes, farms and Home Depot parking lots, stoking widespread fear among immigrant communities.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement Friday that the investigation into immigration and potential child labor violations at the farm is ongoing. No further details of the allegations were provided.

The agency said hundreds of demonstrators attempted to disrupt the operations, leading to the arrest of four Americans.

“We will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law anyone who assaults or doxes federal law enforcement,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection were both part of the operation, the statement said.

Relatives of other workers said they got similar calls Thursday. The mother of an American worker said her son was held at the worksite for 11 hours and told her agents took workers’ cellphones to prevent them from calling family or filming and forced them to erase cellphone video of agents at the site.

The woman said her son told her agents marked the men’s hands with ink to distinguish their immigration status. She spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because she feared reprisals from the government.

United Farm Workers said in statement that some U.S. citizens are not yet accounted for.

Maria Servin, 68, said her son has worked at the farm for 18 years and was helping to build a greenhouse. She said she spoke to her son, who is undocumented, after hearing of the raid and offered to pick him up.

“He said not to come because they were surrounded and there was even a helicopter. That was the last time I spoke to him,” Servin, a U.S. citizen, said in Spanish.

She said she went to the farm anyway but federal agents were shooting tear gas and rubber bullets and she decided it was not safe to stay. She and her daughter returned to the farm Friday and were told her son had been arrested Thursday. They still don’t know where he is being held.

“I regret 1,000 times that I didn’t help him get his documents,” Servin said.

Taxin reported from Orange County, California, and Rodriguez reported from San Francisco.

An exterior of Glass House Farms is shown, a day after an immigration raid on the facility, on Friday, July 11, 2025, in Camarillo, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Sergio Madrigal works on a farm field Friday, July 11, 2025, in Camarillo, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Juan Duran cries outside of Glass House Farms, where a relative was injured during a previous day immigration raid, on Friday, July 11, 2025, in Camarillo, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

People embrace outside of Glass House Farms, a day after an immigration raid on the facility, on Friday, July 11, 2025, in Camarillo, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Federal immigration agents toss tear gas at protesters during a raid in the agriculture area of Camarillo, Calif., Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker)

Federal immigration agents toss tear gas at protesters during a raid in the agriculture area of Camarillo, Calif., Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker)

EDS NOTE: OBSCENITY - Protesters standoff against federal immigration agents during a raid in the agriculture area of Camarillo, Calif., Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker)

Arturo Rangel hugs Judith Ramos whose father works at the greenhouse in the background as federal immigration agents block access during a raid in the agriculture area of Camarillo, Calif., Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker)

Rebecca Torres stands in front of a military vehicle approaching a federal immigration agents raid in the agriculture area of Camarillo, Calif., Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker)