ICE Looking To Deport Migrants To Third Countries With Barely Any Notice 'In Exigent Circumstances'

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is looking to deport migrants to third countries with as little as six hours of previous notice, according to a new memo.

Reuters detailed that while ICE usually waits at least 24 hours to deport people after informing them of their removal to a third country, it will now seek to reduce the time to six hours "in exigent circumstances" if the person was allowed to speak to an attorney. It is not clear what amounts to "exigent circumstances."

The memo adds that migrants would be sent to countries that pledged not to persecute or torture them. The move comes after the Supreme Court overruled a court order limiting deportations without a screening for fear of persecution in the destination country.

Migrants have already been taken to different countries around the world, a high-profile case being that of eight men sent to South Sudan. The Intercept reported last week that the men were deceived by immigration enforcement officials, being told they were being sent on a short trip from Texas to Louisiana rather than their actual destination when first taken out of the country.

The men were kept there for weeks, shackled and held in shipping containers. The outlet quoted lawyers for three of the men, who recounted that they were lied to after resisting being taken to Africa. However, they were then taken onto a plane in the early hours of the morning and then flown without their knowledge or consent.

Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin described the deportations as "a win for rule of law, safety and security of the American people" through an official statement on the DHS website. She went on to refer the men as "barbaric criminal illegal aliens," adding that "these sickos were finally deported to South Sudan on Independence Day."

Human rights advocates have expressed concern over the deportations, citing the dangers the men could face in South Sudan, including detention, torture, or worse.

Other countries have agreed to receive deportees, Kosovo being one of them. The country said in June it would take 50 deportees, adding that they would be "temporarily relocated" there as officials work on "their safe return to their home country."

The central African nation of Rwanda was also discussing potentially accepting third country deportees. In early May, Rwanda's foreign minister, Olivier J.P. Nduhungirehe, said on state broadcaster Rwanda TV. that the country's government was in "early stage" talks about receiving third-country deportees from the U.S. There is no information about migrants being effectively taken to the country.