The Trump administration secretly deported nine people to Cameroon, even though many of them had US court protections that prevented such deportations, and none of them were from the African country, according to a New York Times report.
Many of those men and women sent to Cameroon by plane from Alexandria, Louisiana, on Jan. 14 did not know their destination until they were put on a Department of Homeland Security flight and placed in handcuffs and chains, the publication said, citing government documents and attorneys for the deportees.
The Trump administration has not announced any deal under which Cameroon would agree to accept deportees from other countries.
Decision to stop temporary deportations
A federal judge on Thursday stopped the Trump administration from ending temporary protection from deportation that allowed hundreds of South Sudanese citizens to live and work in Boston, U.S. District Judge Patti Saris ruled that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem likely acted illegally by providing a “pretextual” reason for ending South Sudan’s temporary protected status and failing to reveal the real motive.
This status is available to individuals whose home countries have faced natural disasters, armed conflicts or other extraordinary events. Grants eligible migrants work permits and temporary protection from deportation.
In November, Noem published a notice to end TPS for conflict-torn South Sudan, saying the country no longer qualifies for the designation, which was first issued in 2011.
Saris said the notice did not know the real reason for Noah’s actions and had consistently followed the “pre-established pattern and practice” of terminating the TPS designation for all countries.
Šariš, an appointee of Democratic President Bill Clinton, said that since Noem took office, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has revoked TPS designations for 11 other countries, including Haiti, Venezuela and Ethiopia.
“It is highly likely that no country will pass the assembly, no matter how dire its conditions,” Saris said.
The decision was issued in a lawsuit filed by a group of South Sudanese citizens and the non-profit organization African Communities Together. An earlier judge in the case delayed ending TPS for South Sudan to give Šariš more time to hear the case.