In a move that’s already sparking outrage across the country, a federal judge in Massachusetts is blocking the deportation of convicted immigrant criminals—some of them murderers—arguing that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) violated migrants’ rights by sending them back to their home countries without additional legal steps.
This controversial ruling came from District Court Judge Brian Murphy, who ruled on Wednesday that the deportation of eight migrants—some with violent criminal records—to the African nation of South Sudan violated court orders requiring more say from the migrants on where they should be deported.
Judge Murphy didn’t mince words in his rebuke of the Biden administration’s DHS:
“The department’s actions … are unquestionably violative of this court’s order,”
“The government must maintain custody and control of class members currently being removed to South Sudan or any other third country, to ensure the practical feasibility of return if the Court finds that such removals were unlawful.”
He also made a broader statement about the rights of criminal migrants:
“It is a problem when we stop doing due process for unpopular people.”
In short, Judge Murphy is claiming that convicted criminals who entered the U.S. illegally deserve more court protections before being deported, regardless of how serious their crimes are.
The White House didn’t hold back in its response, pointing out what many Americans are feeling—that the judge is prioritizing criminal illegal immigrants over national security and public safety.
“It’s another attempt by a far-left activist judge to dictate the foreign policy of the United States — and protect the violent criminal illegal immigrants President Donald J. Trump and his administration have removed from our streets.”
This case gives the Trump team a powerful example of how far-left legal activism is clashing with common-sense immigration enforcement, even when dangerous criminals are involved.
The judge’s ruling is protecting a group of immigrants that includes Tuan Thanh Phan, a citizen of Vietnam. He’s no minor offender. According to DHS, Phan was:
“Convicted of first-degree murder and second-degree assault; sentenced to 22 years confinement.”
Vietnam refuses to accept him back, and yet Judge Murphy has essentially ordered that the U.S. must keep him here, potentially releasing him back into the public if deportation isn’t legally feasible.
Vice President JD Vance, known for his firm stance on border security and legal accountability, spoke to The New York Times about the challenges the Trump administration faces in trying to enforce immigration laws:
“A small but substantial number of courts are making it very, very hard for us to deport illegal aliens.”
Vance emphasized the need for due process, but warned that liberal judges are exploiting the legal system to shield illegal immigrants from deportation, even when they’ve broken serious laws:
“There was this idea that you could use the asylum claim process, you could use the refugee process, you could use all of these other tools of the immigration enforcement regime to actually make it harder to deport illegal aliens.”
He continued:
“We think the president has extraordinary plenary power. You need some process to confirm that these illegal aliens are, in fact, illegal aliens and not American citizens… We’re trying to comply with it as much as possible and actually do the job that we were left [by the Biden administration].”
This is just one chapter in a much bigger fight. The Trump administration has been locked in legal battles for months, trying to undo pro-migration policies from the Biden era that gave migrants more power to fight deportation in court.
While the administration has secured a few legal victories, liberal judges and open-border advocates are still blocking removals in courtrooms across the country. This latest case—where the courts step in to protect a convicted murderer from being sent home—is just one example of how broken and backwards the current immigration system has become.
The case highlights a deep divide in America’s immigration debate:
- One side, led by President Trump and Vice President Vance, believes the government must protect American citizens first by enforcing immigration laws and removing dangerous criminals from the country.
- The other side, led by activist judges and pro-migration groups, seems more interested in expanding legal protections for illegal migrants, even when they’ve committed horrific crimes.
And now, with a federal judge essentially ordering the U.S. to keep foreign murderers within our borders, many Americans are asking: How did we get here—and how do we fix it?
