News from the South - Arkansas News Feed
Trump administration violated order in deportations to South Sudan, judge says
Trump administration violated order in deportations to South Sudan, judge says
by Ariana Figueroa, Arkansas Advocate
May 21, 2025
WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Boston Wednesday found the Trump administration violated his preliminary injunction barring third-country removals of migrants without due process, after immigration lawyers say their clients were placed on deportation flights to South Sudan.
“It was impossible for these people to have a meaningful opportunity to object to their transfer to South Sudan,” U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy said. “The government’s actions in this case are unquestionably violative of this court’s order.”
Murphy said he will narrowly tailor a remedy to the violation of his April order. He said the Trump administration must give proper due process to the eight men who were placed on deportation flights on Tuesday and given less than 24 hours to challenge their removal to South Sudan.
South Sudan, in East Africa, is violence-ridden and the U.S. State Department advises against travel there.
Department of Justice attorneys would not confirm where the plane landed, but according to flight tracking data reviewed by the New York Times, there is a chartered plane owned by a company used in the past for deportations that has landed in the East African nation of Djibouti.
Murphy did not detail what contempt charges would look like, but asked Department of Justice attorneys for a list of names of people involved in the flights for potential consequences.
The hearing in Massachusetts is one of several clashes between the Trump administration and the judiciary branch over the issue of due process in immigration enforcement, as the Trump administration aims to enact mass deportations.
The White House in a statement attacked Murphy as a “far-left activist judge” trying to protect migrants with criminal convictions. The list of individuals the White House said were on the flight were from Cuba, Laos, Mexico, South Sudan, Burma and Vietnam.
Flight originated in Texas
An hour before Wednesday’s hearing, top Department of Homeland Security officials at a press conference defended the decision, but declined to confirm if the migrants were sent to South Sudan and argued the country was not their “final destination.”
However, U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Todd Lyons said that South Sudan had agreed to take the men.
“We conducted a deportation flight from Texas to remove some of the most barbaric violent individuals illegally in the United States,” DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said at the press event.
McLaughlin said that the men were still in DHS custody.
Murphy, appointed by former President Joe Biden, has not ordered the Trump administration to return any of the men. At the hearing, he did question a top ICE official in Texas, Marcos Charles, and directed him to find out if it were possible to hold credible fear interviews for the men instead of requiring they be returned to the U.S.
Immigration attorneys who last night had asked for the emergency hearing pushed for the immigrants to be brought back to the U.S.
DOJ attorney Drew Ensign disagreed and said that any remedy from Murphy should be narrowly tailored and that ordering the men to be returned would be “too broad.”
Ensign also said the Trump administration’s position is that 24 hours is enough time for an immigrant to challenge their removal to a country that is not their home.
Trina Realmuto, of the National Immigration Litigation Alliance, argued 30 days is preferable, because many of those removed do not have legal representation and need time to find an attorney and determine if they could face possible harm in another country.
Murphy said that he would clarify how much time is appropriate. He directed DOJ attorneys to make sure that everyone involved in third-country removals, from pilots to immigration officers, to be aware of his order and the possible criminal contempt charges if it’s not followed.
On late Tuesday, in an emergency hearing, Murphy ordered the government to keep the eight migrants in DHS custody until more details could be revealed in Wednesday’s hearing to determine if his April order was violated.
In that earlier order, Murphy barred the Trump administration from removing individuals from a country that is not their home country without giving them time to raise any concerns that they might face harm in the country they would be removed to.
Repeated conflicts between administration and judges
Sending migrants to South Sudan would bring the same concerns as sending them to Libya, another third country with a history of clashes.
The Trump administration extended Temporary Protection Status to nationals of South Sudan for six months to remain in the U.S., meaning those immigrants were granted work permits and deportation protections because their home country was deemed too dangerous to return to.
In early May, Murphy warned Trump officials that any deportations to a third country such as Libya and Saudi Arabia — countries with human rights violations that the Trump administration was considering for deportations — would have clearly violated his April preliminary injunction.
It’s not the first conflict between federal judges and the Trump administration.
A federal judge in Maryland grilled Department of Justice lawyers and accused the administration of stonewalling information on its efforts to return a wrongly deported man from El Salvador. Another federal judge in Maryland ordered the return of a separate wrongly deported man to an El Salvador prison, an order that the DOJ is currently appealing.
A federal judge in the District of Columbia ordered the administration to return deportation planes to the U.S. carrying men removed under the wartime Alien Enemies Act of 1798, but the planes landed in El Salvador to take the migrants to the notorious prison CECOT. The judge threatened possible contempt against the Trump administration.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday again rejected a request from the Trump administration to remove its block on using the Alien Enemies Act over concerns about due process.
The Trump administration in March invoked the Alien Enemies Act to apply to Venezuelans 14 and older with suspected gang ties to rapidly deport them, raising concerns about a lack of due process.
Arkansas Advocate is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com.
The post Trump administration violated order in deportations to South Sudan, judge says appeared first on arkansasadvocate.com
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Left
The article takes a critical stance toward the Trump administration’s actions on immigration enforcement, focusing on the due process violations and the judicial clashes regarding deportation procedures. The reporting emphasizes the role of federal judges in holding the administration accountable for its policies, which could be seen as sympathetic to those challenging these policies. It highlights the involvement of immigration lawyers and human rights concerns, portraying the Trump administration’s actions as violating legal and humanitarian principles. While the article presents both sides, it leans more toward highlighting the consequences of the administration’s policies on vulnerable populations, aligning with a Center-Left perspective.
News from the South - Arkansas News Feed
Grant Hardin used black marker & soup can to create disguise that allowed his escape
SUMMARY: Grant Hardin, a convicted murderer, rapist, and former police officer, escaped a medium-security prison in Arkansas using a disguise he crafted from kitchen materials. He dyed a shirt with a black marker, fashioned a makeshift badge from a soup can, Bible cover, and button, and used an apron as a bulletproof vest. The escape, lasting 12 days in the woods, revealed serious staff failures: a kitchen worker let Hardin unsupervised for over an hour, and a guard left a gate open unattended. Two prison employees were fired, but lawmakers remain unsatisfied. Hardin’s threat level was reportedly too low for his offenses, prompting ongoing investigations.
Grant Hardin used black marker & soup can to create disguise that allowed his escape Subscribe to 40/29 on YouTube now for …
News from the South - Arkansas News Feed
Re-live the Beatles epic 1964 tour stop in Cincinnati
SUMMARY: The Beatles’ 1964 Cincinnati tour stop featured lively interactions and candid remarks. The band discussed their trip, politics—expressing skepticism about Goldwater—and addressed rumors about being banned in the U.S., dismissing them as baseless. They talked about novelty merchandise like mugs but denied inventing such items. The Beatles shared impressions of American movie stars like Burt Lancaster and Gordon, describing encounters as mixed but mostly positive. Their unique hairstyles were playfully explained as natural. The clip captures the group’s playful, down-to-earth nature amid their historic U.S. visit, blending humor, music, and cultural observations.
The Beatles came to Cincinnati to play a show in August 1964 as part of a 25-city North American tour. In this rare footage, see John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr as they land at the airport to the delight of throngs of die-hard fans. The Fab Four also chatted with local media about whether they should be banned, what they knew about the upcoming presidential election and how they felt about American movie stars.
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News from the South - Arkansas News Feed
US Education Department to revive student loan interest for borrowers in SAVE program
by Shauneen Miranda, Arkansas Advocate
July 9, 2025
WASHINGTON — Interest accrual on the debt of nearly 7.7 million student loan borrowers enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education plan will resume Aug. 1, the U.S. Education Department said Wednesday.
The Biden-era income-driven repayment plan better known as SAVE saw legal challenges from several GOP-led states beginning in 2024, creating uncertainty for borrowers who were placed in an interest-free forbearance amid that legal limbo.
The SAVE plan, created in 2023, aimed to provide lower monthly loan payments for borrowers and forgive remaining debt after a certain period of time.
In February, a federal appeals court upheld a lower court injunction that blocked the SAVE plan from going into effect. The department said Wednesday that it’s instructing its federal student loan servicers to start charging interest Aug. 1 to comply with court orders.
When the SAVE plan forbearance ends, “borrowers will be responsible for making monthly payments that include any accrued interest as well as their principal amounts,” the department said in a written announcement.
“For years, the Biden Administration used so-called ‘loan forgiveness’ promises to win votes, but federal courts repeatedly ruled that those actions were unlawful,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement alongside the announcement.
“Congress designed these programs to ensure that borrowers repay their loans, yet the Biden Administration tried to illegally force taxpayers to foot the bill instead,” she added.
McMahon said her department is urging borrowers under the SAVE plan to “quickly transition to a legally compliant repayment plan.”
“Borrowers in SAVE cannot access important loan benefits and cannot make progress toward loan discharge programs authorized by Congress,” she said.
‘Unnecessary interest charges’
Mike Pierce, executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center, blasted the department’s decision in a statement Wednesday.
“Instead of fixing the broken student loan system, Secretary McMahon is choosing to drown millions of people in unnecessary interest charges and blaming unrelated court cases for her own mismanagement,” he said.
“Every day, we hear from borrowers waiting on hold with their servicer for hours, begging the government to let them out of this forbearance, and help them get back on track — instead, McMahon is choosing to jack up the cost of their student debt without giving them a way out.”
The agency has taken heat for its sweeping actions in the months since President Donald Trump took office as he and his administration look to dismantle the department.
The department is also mired in a legal challenge over some of its most significant efforts so far, including laying off more than 1,300 employees earlier this year as part of a reduction in force effort, an executive order calling on McMahon to facilitate the closure of her own agency and Trump’s proposal to transfer some services to other federal agencies. These actions have been temporarily halted in court.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump signed a massive tax and spending cut bill into law last week, part of which forces any borrower under the SAVE plan to opt in to a different repayment plan by July 1, 2028, or be automatically placed in a new, income-based repayment plan.
Arkansas Advocate is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com.
The post US Education Department to revive student loan interest for borrowers in SAVE program appeared first on arkansasadvocate.com
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Right
This article presents the developments around the federal student loan SAVE plan primarily through a critical lens toward the Biden administration’s policies, emphasizing legal challenges and statements from Education Secretary Linda McMahon, a Trump appointee, who frames the administration’s actions as unlawful and fiscally irresponsible. It includes critical commentary from conservative officials and frames the Biden-era policies as politically motivated. Although it also quotes critics of the Education Department’s decision, the overall tone and source choices suggest a center-right leaning, reflecting skepticism of progressive loan forgiveness policies while focusing on legal and fiscal accountability.
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