A federal judge said Wednesday the federal government couldn’t deport migrants to Libya without a meaningful chance to challenge their removal in court.
SAN ANTONIO — A federal judge on Wednesday found the Trump administration can’t deport migrants to Libya unless they have a meaningful chance to challenge their removal in court.
The order from U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy in Massachusetts comes after attorneys said immigration authorities informed migrants of plans to deport them to Libya, a country with a history of human rights violations. On a day when what appeared to be two Air Force C-17s could be seen at Kelly Field on the southwest side, CNN reported that the flight was potentially being prepared to depart from San Antonio.
CNN cited an official with the Trump administration, saying the White House declined to comment.
Flight trackers show that a US Air Force C-17 had filed a plan to fly from Kelly Field in San Antonio to Misrata Airport in Libya on Wednesday, the report said.
Those large C-17 cargo plans have been used recently in the transport of migrants by the Trump administration.
Murphy previously found that any migrants deported to countries other than their homelands must first be allowed to argue that it would jeopardize their safety. He said that any “allegedly imminent” removals would “clearly violate this Court’s Order.”
Last week, CNN reported the Trump administration was in talks with both Libya and Rwanda about the possibility of sending migrants with criminal records to those countries, according to multiple sources familiar with the talks. Reuters also reported Tuesday that the administration could depart migrants to Libya as early as Wednesday.
Libya has been engaged in political disputes and occasional clashes between rival factions since major fighting ended with a truce in 2020. The country is run by two parallel governments divided into the eastern and western areas. Both governments publicly denied it was accepted migrants deported from the U.S.
The State Department’s website has a Level 4 travel advisory for Libya. “Do not travel to Libya due to crime, terrorism, unexploded landmines, civil unrest, kidnapping, and armed conflict,” the site reads.
When asked about the potential flight, President Donald Trump said in the Oval Office Wednesday: “I don’t know, you’ll have to ask Homeland Security.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week the administration was looking at other countries to deport people to.
The Trump administration has come under fire for deporting migrants to El Salvador. The policy was particularly scrutinized after the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Abrego Garcia is a Salvadoran man who was living in Maryland when he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador and imprisoned without being allowed to communicate with family or legal aid.
Trump says Abrego Garcia is part of a violent transnational gang. The Supreme Court has ordered that the administration must work to return him to the U.S.
Copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.