Jayapal Condemns Planned Third-Country Removal Flights to Libya

WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Ranking Member of the Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee, issued the following statement in response to the reports that the Trump administration is actively working to send individuals to Libya without due process:

“The idea that we would send people to Libya, a country for which our government literally has a ‘Do Not Travel’ advisory, where terrorist groups are present, outbreaks of violence between competing armed groups occur with little warning, and migrants are enslaved, is ridiculous.

“The federal judge who ruled to stop third-country removals has made clear that ruling applies here. The Trump administration must follow and abide by the court order. Whether it is Libya or El Salvador, or anywhere else in the world – people cannot be deported from this country without due process.  

“This is about all of us. The Trump administration has already illegally deported U.S. citizen children, including a U.S. citizen child in the middle of cancer treatments, as well as others with legal status. The president has also floated shipping U.S. citizens off to prisons in El Salvador. If he can ignore due process rights for some, he could ignore them for everyone. As a country, we must be better than this.”

Since the Arab Spring in 2011, Libya has been entrenched in a political and humanitarian crisis. The country does not currently have a functioning government, and the United States does not have an embassy within the country. 

Issues: Immigration