The Trump administration is preparing to deport a group of migrants to Libya aboard a U.S. military aircraft, a plan that stunned human rights observers and marked a dramatic escalation in the president’s immigration enforcement crackdown.
That’s according to the New York Times, which reported Tuesday that a military flight carrying the migrants could depart as early as Wednesday. The nationalities of those slated for deportation remain unclear.
“The decision to send deportees to Libya was striking,” according to the report. “The country is racked with conflict, and human rights groups have called conditions in its network of migrant detention centers ‘horrific’ and ‘deplorable.’"
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The planning for the new deportation operation has been described as “tightly held,” and could still be postponed due to logistical, legal, or diplomatic hurdles, the Times reported.
“The Libya operation falls in line with the Trump administration’s effort to not only deter migrants from trying to enter the country illegally but also to send a strong message to those in the country illegally that they can be deported to countries where they could face brutal conditions,” according to the report.
The White House declined to comment. But the Times noted Tuesday that the State Department cautions against traveling to Libya “due to crime, terrorism, unexploded land mines, civil unrest, kidnapping and armed conflict.”