3 days ago
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A federal judge in Massachusetts has issued an order defying the Supreme Court, stating that an emergency motion filed by the plaintiffs is "unnecessary" because the Supreme Court's Monday ruling that deportations of migrants to third countries can continue does not affect his May order.
Judge Brian E Murphy denied the plaintiffs’ emergency motion "as unnecessary," adding that the court’s May 21, 2025 order "remains in full force and effect, notwithstanding today’s stay of the Preliminary Injunction."
The May 21 "Order on Remedy for Violation of Preliminary Injunction" stated in part that the six individuals in the case "must be given a reasonable fear interview in private, with the opportunity for the individual to have counsel of their choosing present during the interview, either in-person or remotely, at the individual’s choosing." Murphy's Monday order clarified that two additional plaintiffs are covered under his May order.
The Supreme Court, in a 6-3 ruling Monday, granted a stay pending appeal for the Trump administration in their attempt to deport a group of men who had been convicted of violent offenses to third-party countries. The flight, which was initially set to land in South Sudan, was diverted to Djibouti, a country on the Horn of Africa. The May order stated that the plaintiffs "must remain within the custody or control of DHS."
Murphy cited a portion of Justice Sonya Sotomayor’s dissent, who wrote, "the District Court’s remedial orders are not properly before this Court because the Government has not appealed them, nor sought a stay pending a forthcoming appeal" and used that to rejec the ruling of the Court.
The emergency filing made after the Supreme Court’s ruling stated, "Plaintiffs now move to enforce that previously ordered remedy. At the time DHS violated the injunction, it remained fully operative, and the Court had authority to fashion an appropriate remedy. Federal courts routinely enforce remedial orders issued in response to such violations, even when the underlying injunction is later stayed or vacated."
The filing added, "All eight individuals—none of whom have final removal orders to South Sudan—are being deprived of basic procedural rights and access to protection that Congress and the Constitution require. Absent injunctive relief, these class members face imminent risk of deportation to a volatile country where they likely will face indefinite detention and other forms of torture."
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller told Fox News on Monday night, "the district court judge in Boston has said he's going to defy the Supreme Court's ruling. So expect fireworks tomorrow when we hold this judge accountable for refusing to obey the Supreme Court."
English (US) ·