LAGOS JUNE 7TH (NEWSRANGERS)-Eight deportees and over a dozen Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers are stranded in a shipping container in east Africa after a judge blocked their deportation flight.
Neither the officers or immigrants are able to leave the container, located in a U.S. naval base in the scorching-hot nation of Djibouti, until the matter has been resolved by the courts, which could take weeks.
The eight deportees, who hail from Myanmar, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, Mexico and South Sudan, were accused of being convicted criminals by the Trump administration and deported in late May, the Washington Post reports. After the countries declined to accept them all eight were instead sent to South Sudan, until a U.S. federal judge ruled they had the right to challenge their convictions in court.
The thirteen ICE officials meanwhile, fell ill immediately after landing and are currently suffering from respiratory infections, as well as extreme heat and cramped living conditions. They, along with the deportees, have been forced to reside in a makeshift detention center until the matter is resolved, with only six beds between them.
Court documents filed by top ICE and DHS official Mellisa Harper claim the ICE officials are experiencing “coughing, difficulty breathing, fever, and achy joints,”” and outside temperatures which exceed 100F, along with threats of malaria. At night, the air fills with a “smog cloud” filled with rancid smoke formed from nearby pits where locals burn trash and human waste, which is so polluted that some officers have taken to sleeping with facial masks on.
“Upon arrival in Djibouti, officers were warned by U.S. Department of Defense officials of imminent danger of rocket attacks from terrorist groups in Yemen,” Harper said. “The ICE officers lack body armor or other gear that would be appropriate in the case of an attack.”
Both officers and detainees fell ill within 72 hours of landing in Djibouti, she added, with the ICE officers at risk of developing malaria due to not being vaccinated or taking appropriate medication before arriving in Djibouti.
The declaration also outlined the conditions the detainees currently face, which includes only being able to shower once a day and being subjected to “pat-downs and searches” every time they need to use the restroom, which is over 40 yards away from the container in which they are being held.
There is also limited lighting in the area, which “makes visibility difficult and creates a significant security risk for both the officers and aliens.
“The conference room in which the aliens are housed is not equipped nor suitable for detention of any length, let alone for the detention of high-risk individuals,” Harper added. “Notably, the room has none of the security apparatus necessary for the detention of criminal aliens. If an altercation were to occur, there is no other location on site available to separate the aliens, which further compromises the officers’ safety.”
Trump officials have pounced on the ruling, made by Judge Brian E. Murphy, as proof of judicial overreach, and told the Supreme Court on Thursday that his decision violates the federal government’s authority to deport violent immigrants.
“This Massachusetts District judge is putting the lives of our ICE law enforcement in danger by stranding them in Djibouti without proper resources, lack of medical care, and terrorists who hate Americans running rampant,” DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a post on X.
“Our @ICEgov officers were only supposed to transport for removal 8 *convicted criminals* with *final deportation orders* who were so monstrous and barbaric that no other country would take them. This is reprehensible and, quite frankly, pathological.”
Lawyers for the deportees meanwhile have expressed concern for the wellbeing of the detainees and the conditions the DHS has left them in.
It remains unknown how long both the detainees and ICE officials will remain confined in Djibouti.
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