A federal judge assured that the Trump Administration would be violating a court order if it deports migrants to Libya

Federal Judge Brian Murphy issued an order Wednesday affirming that any attempt by the U.S. President's Administration Donald Trump to deport immigrants to Libya would represent a clear violation of a previous court order that expressly prohibits U.S. officials from quickly deporting migrants to countries other than their own without first assessing whether they would be at risk of torture or persecution by being sent there. In that earlier order, also issued by Murphy, the judge restricted such deportations after several media outlets reported that the Administration might deport migrants to the Middle Eastern country, regardless of previous condemnations the United States has issued about theharsh treatment of its detainees by Libyan authorities.

Murphy, who was appointed during the administration of former Democratic President Joe Biden, detailed in his order, "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." Also, the judge noted that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) could not evade his order by shifting its responsibility to any other agency, including the Department of Defense, which would be involved in airlifting migrants to Libya.

The Libyan government refused to use its territory to receive migrants.

In a statement, Libya's Government of National Unity declared on Wednesday thatit rejected the use of Libyan territory as the destination for the deportation of migrants without their consent or knowledge. Similarly, the Libyan government detailed that there was no coordinationeither with the White House or any U.S. agency on the transfer of migrants. The Libyan National Army, which is led by Khalifa Haftar and currently controls the east of the country, detailed that it rejected the idea of receiving deported illegal immigrants, after explaining that taking this action "violates the sovereignty of the homeland".

After learning of the possible deportation of illegal immigrants to this country, several lawyers representing a group of migrants in a class action lawsuit issued an emergency request in which they asked Murphy to prevent as soon as possible the deportations of migrants not only to Libya but also to any other transit nation without first guaranteeing the fulfillment of all their procedural rights. Migrant rights advocates indicated in court documents that, among those potentially subject to deportation to Libya, were Vietnamese, Laotian and Filipino migrants.