United States: In a sharpened judicial rebuke issued Wednesday, a federal magistrate warned that spiriting migrants to Libya or Saudi Arabia without formal notification or a fair chance to oppose the removal would flout his prior directive, as detailed in a newly surfaced court document.

Human rights coalitions moved swiftly, submitting an urgent plea to halt such deportations, triggered by remarks from a Trump administration insider to CNN that plans were advancing to dispatch undocumented individuals to Libya aboard a US Military craft.

The specifics around timing remain clouded. Officials haven’t confirmed when the aircraft will depart, or whether subsequent groups will be rerouted to Libya, still convulsed by internal warfare.

Public flight data indicates a US Air Force C-17 has charted a route from Kelly Field in San Antonio to Misrata Airport in Libya, underscoring a pattern of military involvement in recent migrant transport missions, according to reports by CNN.

Just last month, Judge Brian Murphy imposed a temporary injunction, halting efforts to deport individuals to nations other than their homeland unless they’re first given formal notice and a platform to challenge the decision. Reaffirming his stance on Wednesday, Murphy emphasized that funneling individuals to Libya or Saudi Arabia would breach this standing order.

His filing on April 30, 2025, explicitly clarified that the Department of Homeland Security is prohibited from outsourcing deportation authority—or sidestepping legal responsibility—by transferring migrants to another department, such as the Pentagon.

“If any ambiguity lingers—though none is perceived by this Court—the looming deportations, as spotlighted by media outlets and corroborated through personal accounts and open-source intelligence, stand in blatant defiance of this Court’s command,” Murphy wrote.

The legal advocates called for an immediate judicial blockade against flights rerouting migrants to Libya or any third-party nation. They also pushed for the repatriation of anyone already expelled under these opaque tactics.

According to the court brief, one attorney relayed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement allegedly told his Filipino client, under final deportation orders, that he’d be relocated to Libya. Yet no written document substantiating this claim was provided.

The White House has kept silent on the matter. CNN first flagged the administration’s quiet overtures to Libyan officials to take in deportees. Meanwhile, Reuters spotlighted the military aircraft operation earlier this week.

Choosing Libya—a country previously condemned by the United Nations for grievous treatment of migrants—as a deportation site further escalates the administration’s controversial hardline migration agenda, which already faces fierce pushback in both political and legal spheres, as reported by CNN.

When questioned on the matter Wednesday, President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office: “I don’t know, you’ll have to ask Homeland Security.”

Libya’s Foreign Affairs Ministry quickly pushed back, stating it “categorically denies any agreement or coordination with US authorities regarding the deportation of migrants to Libya.”

The US State Department maintains a Level 4 travel alert for Libya—its most severe—citing rampant crime, terror threats, landmine hazards, insurgency, abduction risks, and active hostilities.

Pressed for comment, a State Department spokesperson said, “We do not discuss the details of our diplomatic communications with other governments.”

CNN had reached out to representatives of Libyan General Saddam Haftar, who was in Washington for separate diplomatic engagements, for any connection to the reported deportation scheme. Both US and Libyan sources confirmed his meetings had no link to migrant transfers, as reported by CNN.

Meanwhile, talks continue regarding potential deportations to other African nations like Rwanda, though insiders say no definitive plans or scheduled flights have been solidified.