Judge Randolph Moss has issued an emergency ruling deciding to transfer the case involving the deportation of eight men to war-torn South Sudan.
The U.S. Supreme Court issued a previous decision saying that the U.S. could deport migrants to third-party countries. President Donald Trump seeks to deport the men, who are not from South Sudan, to a third-party country. Their lawyers argued in court Friday that it will mean their arrest and torture, if not their deaths.
Politico reported Friday morning Judge Moss, "emphasized that his decision was not one of the now-verboten injunctions. Instead, it relied on two alternative routes the Supreme Court acknowledged remained available for those challenging Trump’s policies: class actions, which allow large groups to band together and sue over a common problem, and the Administrative Procedure Act, a federal law that permits courts to 'set aside' federal agency actions that violate the law, including rules, regulations and memos laying out new procedures."
At one point during the hearing, Judge Moss confessed, "I don't really know what to make of what the Supreme Court did, because that is one of the downsides of the emergency docket."
Ruling after a brief deliberation, Judge Moss acknowledged that he takes issue with the idea of sending the eight migrants to South Sudan.
He thanked the parties for responding so quickly on holiday. He added, "I do have grave concerns about some of the issues plaintiffs raise in the case. It does appear that placing people in South Sudan could pose significant risks to their physical safety."
"I would not want anything to happen to plaintiffs," such as violent acts or bodily harm, the judge continued. "It goes without saying that even when someone has been convicted of a terrible crime, once that person has served their sentence, the government should not be in the business of inflicting harm."
"That said, I have not reached the conclusion that it is the government's goal to inflict harm, and the government has represented that this is not their goal," Moss clarified.
The judge agreed to put a one-hour administrative pause for the clerk before the case was sent back to Massachusetts, where U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy has presided over another matter in the case.
The plaintiffs begged the judge to give them more time due to the July 4th holiday, as they try to contact the judge. Moss gave them an extra 30 minutes to "effectuate the transfer" of the case, "Law Dork" Chris Geidner wrote on Bluesky. Moss then urged the petitioners to go to Massachusetts to ask for any further relief.
"So if I were to reach merits, it would be a substantial claim, but it seems very related to claims in Massachusetts," the judge closed. "So, I do think the right thing to do is to transfer it. The government says it won't waive objections, but also says its view is that jurisdiction doesn't bar making these arguments in Massachusetts."
The Department of Homeland Security has a plane waiting to send the men to South Sudan at 7 p.m. EDT.
