In a move that has already sparked fierce legal and political clashes, the Department of Homeland Security announced this week the deportation of eight violent criminal illegal aliens—some convicted of horrific crimes ranging from murder to child sexual assault—after years of failed repatriation attempts. While the Biden administration largely reversed the Trump-era deportation strategy, this specific deportation flight signals that some removals still go forward, albeit under complex and controversial circumstances.
The deportation flight, which left Texas and landed in Djibouti, carried eight men whose home countries had previously refused to accept them due to the severity of their crimes. With no options left, South Sudan agreed to accept the group—even though only one of the individuals deported was a South Sudanese national.
BREAKING: A federal judge in Boston has ruled that the Trump admin violated his order w/ its deportation flight intended for South Sudan & is ordering that the criminal aliens on the plane, which includes 5 convicted murderers, be given credible fear screenings & 15 days to… pic.twitter.com/MFSYre4nvV
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) May 22, 2025
Among those deported were individuals with long and violent rap sheets. DHS named Enrique Arias-Hierro and Jose Manuel Rodriguez-Quinones, both Cuban nationals, with convictions for homicide, armed robbery, impersonating officials, and trafficking drugs. Other deportees included Vietnamese, Laotian, Mexican, and Burmese nationals, with crimes including first-degree murder, second-degree assault, and egregious sexual violence against vulnerable victims, including children.
ICE’s Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin did not mince words: “No country on earth wanted to accept them because their crimes are so uniquely monstrous and barbaric.” DHS emphasized that these individuals represented the worst-of-the-worst among illegal aliens—people whose presence in the U.S. posed an undeniable threat to public safety.
But that’s not where the story ends. A federal judge in Massachusetts, U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy, has now thrown a legal wrench into the operation, ordering the Trump administration to maintain “custody” of the deported individuals to ensure that they could be brought back into the United States if the court determines their removal was unlawful.
DHS officials blasted the judge’s order as an overreach. “A local judge in Massachusetts is trying to force the United States to bring back these uniquely barbaric monsters,” McLaughlin said, calling the idea “absurd” and “a direct interference in national security and foreign policy.”
DHS removed 8 illegal alien monsters who have been convicted of extremely violent first degree murders and child rape. Convicted murderers and child rapists with FINAL ORDERS OF REMOVAL. A local Boston judge has HALTED their deportation and endangered the lives of the federal… https://t.co/hdnpJgTNhL
— Stephen Miller (@StephenM) May 22, 2025
The backdrop of the controversy includes a broader judicial trend that has long frustrated immigration enforcement efforts. Past rulings by judges with ties to Democratic figures, including James Boasberg and Indira Talwani, have previously blocked deportations or restrictions on temporary protected status. Those decisions were often couched in humanitarian concerns or procedural objections, but critics argue they create dangerous precedents that tie the hands of immigration authorities—even when public safety is clearly at risk.
