A Homeland Security official said on Wednesday that the U.S. is seeking to deport eight migrants convicted of serious crimes including homicides, but declined to confirm an allegation raised in federal court that they were bound for South Sudan.
U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy on Tuesday ordered the Trump administration to not let a group of migrants being flown to South Sudan to leave the custody of U.S. immigration authorities, after saying they appeared to have been deported in violation of a court order.
The eight men were from Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar, Vietnam and South Sudan, Homeland Security officials said at a press conference, and were convicted of murder, armed robbery and other serious crimes.
"We conducted a deportation flight from Texas to remove some of the most barbaric, violent individuals illegally in the United States," Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told reporters. "These are the monsters that the district judge is trying to protect."
