(TPM) "Morning Memo has been carefully tracking where the constitutional clash between President Trump and the judicial branch is most likely to reach its apex first. There’s a new leader in the clubhouse."
"In what has been mostly a second-tier immigration case because it doesn’t involve the Alien Enemies Act, U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy of Boston has been trying to rein in the Trump administration’s deportation of migrants to third countries without notice or a chance to raise concerns about their safety."
"But that case has morphed into what is increasingly looking like a constitutional showdown, with Murphy holding an emergency hearing last night after evidence emerged that as many as a dozen migrants were flown yesterday to South Sudan without notice or hearing, in apparent violation of Murphy’s temporary order."
“'Based on what I have been told, this seems like it may be contempt,' Murphy said, according to the NYT, one of the few news outlets able to cover last night’s emergency hearing."
"During the hearing, the Trump administration lawyers either didn’t know or refused to divulge key information to Murphy, claiming the details of the removals – including the status of the plane and its ultimate destination – were classified."
"One key but unverified piece of information emerged in the hearing, which Murphy recessed a couple of times for the Trump administration lawyers to try to obtain more details. As to one particular migrant whose initials are N.M. and is from Myanmar, a Trump DOJ lawyer said he was returned home to Myanmar, not South Sudan, the NYT reports. That contradicts the notice that N.M.’s lawyers say they were given by ICE. Sending him back to his home country would probably would not violate Murphy’s existing order."
"To buy time, Murphy ordered the Trump administration 'to maintain custody and control of class members currently being removed to South Sudan or to any other third country, to ensure the practical feasibility of return if the Court finds that such removals were unlawful.'"
"Ahead of another hearing in the matter set for 11 a.m. ET today, Murphy directed the government to be prepared to provide specific information about these removals. As for N.M, Murphy zeroed in on even more specific information, including which government officials were involved: 'Defendants must nonetheless be prepared to address the details of his removal, including when and to where he was removed, the names of individuals personally involved in executing his removal, and any information currently in Defendants’ possession regarding his current whereabouts.'"
"This is the same case Morning Memo told you about Monday, which has already had a number of examples of egregious Trump administration conduct:"
"In one aspect of the case involving a gay Guatemalan man deported to Mexico, the Trump DOJ canceled a deposition of a government official at the last minute and filed a notice of error that it didn’t have evidence it had previously claimed in court to have – and in the notice outed the man by name."
"Judge Murphy was forced to issue a clarification to head off the Trump administration from deporting a group of migrants – including N.M. above – to Libya."
"Judge Murphy has already ordered discovery into whether the Trump administration violated his order by flying Venezuelan migrants to the U.S. military base at Guantanamo before removing them to El Salvador. The Trump administration said it wasn’t a violation of the order because the flights were conducted by the Defense Department, not the Department of Homeland Security."
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