US judge briefly pauses deportation of 8 migrants to South Sudan

5/7/2025 6:29

A federal judge briefly halted the Trump administration on Friday from placing eight migrants on a plane destined for conflict-ridden South Sudan, to give lawyers for the men time to make their argument to a court in Massachusetts.



U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss in Washington made the ruling at an emergency hearing on July 4, when courts are otherwise closed for the Independence Day holiday. The group of migrants had filed new claims on Thursday after the Supreme Court clarified that a federal judge in Boston could no longer require U.S. Department of Homeland Security to hold them.



The administration has detained the men for six weeks on a military base in Djibouti rather than bring back to the United States.



The order stops the U.S. government from moving the men until 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time. They were scheduled to be removed to South Sudan on a 7 p.m. flight.