A U.S. district judge slammed President Donald Trump and his administration in a scaling ruling this week over the "cavalier acceptance" that a group of migrants who were removed in the U.S. and deported to Ghana and their home countries are “more likely than not” to face persecution, torture or even death.
Judge Tanya Chutkan — who oversaw the now-dismissed election interference case against Trump — called out the administration for denying due process to these migrants, Politico reported. She also said that the court's "hands are tied," and that she cannot help the migrants the administration is deporting.
"For over three decades, through five presidential administrations, this country has adhered to its obligations to treat refugees humanely and to comply with the Constitutional requirement of due process, which is afforded to all persons present in this country, regardless of their citizenship status," Chutkan wrote in the ruling.
She added that the "court does not reach this conclusion lightly," but it could not issue a temporary restraining order to force U.S. officials to stop the repatriation.
The five plaintiffs in the case, who were identified by initials due to safety concerns, have been deported to Ghana and are "now being repatriated to their home countries."
"It is aware of the dire consequences Plaintiffs face if they are repatriated," Chutkan wrote. "And it is alarmed and dismayed by the circumstances under which these removals are being carried out, especially in light of the government’s cavalier acceptance of Plaintiffs’ ultimate transfer to countries where they face torture and persecution. But its hands are tied."
Chutkan called out the administration's harsh immigration policies and ongoing efforts to target migrants.
"In recent months, the government has embarked upon a series of deportations which signal a drastic change of course. In several cases, authorities have rounded up — often at night and with little or no notice — men, women, and children being held in detention facilities, hastily put them on planes and transferred them to other countries, where they have no connections, do not speak the language, and are unable to contact family or counsel. This case involves a similar scenario," she wrote.