Migrants come from Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar, Vietnam and South Sudan. They have been under surveillance for weeks at a US military base in Djibouti, the Horn of Africa, awaiting the course of the legal process.
The detention has meanwhile taken place in a freight container, converted into a temporary detention facility. The Supreme Court motivated the decision to now transfer the migrants from American detention to South Sudan by stating that they have been convicted of serious crimes in the US.
This was a victory for the team, security and safety for the American people, says spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin at the Department of Homeland Security.
The deportation was previously postponed after a judge, referring to the fact that the migrants had not been given the opportunity to appeal, temporarily stopped it.
