Migrants deported to South Sudan by Donald Trump include murderers and sexual abusers, the Daily Mail can reveal.
The latest deportations come as a federal judge ruled U.S. officials must retain custody and control of the migrants in case he orders in the future that their removals were unlawful.
U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy in Massachusetts issued the ruling late Tuesday after an emergency hearing.
Attorneys for the immigrants said the Trump administration appeared to start deporting people from Burma and Vietnam to South Sudan despite a court order restricting removals to third-party countries.
The Daily Mail can now reveal that the migrants sent to East African country include at least five murderers and a pedophile.
Only one is a citizen of South Sudan, while the others are from Cuba, Mexico, Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos.
The migrants being deported to South Sudan by the Trump administration
They include Thongxay Nilakout, from Burma, who was convicted of murder after the high-profile 1994 killing of Gisela Pfleger, a German tourist in California.
He was jailed for life in California in 1996 and arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in January this year before being put on a plane to South Sudan.
A U.S. official described Nilakout and the others as ‘bad hombres.’
They also included Nyo Myint, a citizen of Burma.
He was convicted of first-degree sexual assault involving a victim mentally and physically incapable of resisting, and sentenced to 12 years confinement.
He was arrested by ICE on February 19, 2025.
Judge Murphy, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, said the U.S. government must ‘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.’
Thongxay NILAKOUT, a citizen of Laos. Convicted of first-degree murder and robbery; sentenced to life confinement. Arrested by ICE on January 26, 2025.
Kyaw Mya, a citizen of Burma.Convicted of Lascivious Acts with a Child-Victim less than 12 years of age; sentenced to 10 years confinement, paroled after 4 years. Arrested by ICE on February 18, 2025
Jesus Munoz-Gutierrez, a citizen of Mexico.Convicted of second-degree murder; sentenced to life confinement. Arrested by ICE on May 12, 2025
While the judge left the details to the government’s discretion, he said he expects the migrants “will be treated humanely.”
At the emergency hearing attorneys for the migrants told the judge that immigration authorities may have sent up to a dozen people from several countries to Africa.
They argue that violates a court order saying people must get a ‘meaningful opportunity’ to argue that sending them to a country outside their homeland would threaten their safety.
Tuan Thanh Phan a citizen of Vietnam. Convicted of first-degree murder and second-degree assault; sentenced to 22 years confinement. Arrested by ICE on May 3, 2025
Dian Peter Domach, a citizen of South Sudan. Convicted of robbery and possession of a firearm; sentenced to 8 years confinement.
Jose Manuel Rodriguez-Quinones, a citizen of Cuba, convicted of attempted first degree murder with a weapon and sentenced to 4 years confinement
The apparent removal of one man from Burma was confirmed in an email from an immigration official in Texas, according to court documents.
He was informed only in English, a language he does not speak well, and his attorneys learned of the plan hours before his deportation flight, the lawyers said.
A woman also reported that her husband from Vietnam and up to 10 other people were flown to Africa Tuesday morning, attorneys from the National Immigration Litigation Alliance wrote.
The migrants’ attorneys asked Murphy for an emergency court order to prevent the deportations.
The judge previously found that any plans to deport people to Libya without notice would ‘clearly’ violate his ruling.
He ordered U.S. officials from the Trump administration to appear at another emergency hearing Wednesday to answer questions about the deportation of immigrants to South Sudan and other countries.
