A district court judge ordered Wednesday that the Trump administration cannot go through with a potential plan to send a group of undocumented immigrants to Libya unless they are first given a chance to contest their removal in court.
Reports from multiple outlets Wednesday said the Trump administration was preparing to send a group of undocumented immigrants to the African country aboard U.S. military aircraft.
The reports, which cited unnamed U.S. officials, said the flights could take place as early as this week.
But the judge's new order reiterates that any non-citizens who would be deported must first have the opportunity to have their cases heard.
"If there is any doubt—the Court sees none—the allegedly imminent removals, as reported by news agencies and as Plaintiffs seek to corroborate with class-member accounts and public information, would clearly violate this Court’s Order," the judge wrote Wednesday.
In the meantime, Libya's provisional government has denied having any arrangement with the U.S. to receive migrants.
"The Government categorically denies the existence of any agreement or coordination with it regarding the reception of any migrants deported from the United States," it wrote on social media.
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The developments are similar to those in the case of migrants the Trump administration is seeking to deport from detention in Texas.
In that case, the Supreme Court ruled in April that migrants could only be deported after having a chance to contest their removals and argue their cases in court. The justices later escalated their rulings, saying the Venezuelan migrants were to be kept in Texas "until further order of this court."
The Trump administration has yet to directly comment on the alleged deportation plan.
"We do not discuss the details of our diplomatic communications with other governments," a State Department spokesperson told Scripps News on Wednesday.
The Pentagon referred Scripps News' inquiries to the White House. On Wednesday, President Trump told reporters he wasn't familiar with the alleged deportation plans, and directed questions to the Department of Homeland Security.
