DHS has begun publishing information about people bound to South Sudan. All were convicted of serious crimes, but the families of at least one victim have questioned the rushed removal.
The first “self-deportation” leaves with a group of immigrants
The first Homeland Security Department’s “self-deportation” flight left a group of 64 immigrants.
- The Department of Homeland Security has released information about eight individuals on a flight to South Sudan.
- All were convicted of serious crimes in the United States, including murder.
Homeland Security officials have released information about eight individuals who flew in a deletion flight detained towards South Sudan on May 20.
All were convicted of serious crimes in the United States, but they question the hastily removed the family of at least one victim.
Massachusetts U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy ruled on May 21 that the flight violated an April order that barred immigrants from sending to third countries and gave them time to raise concerns about being sent to the country without providing clear information about where the government is going.
Murphy decided late May 21st that the man must remain in US custody while completing a reliable and horrifying interview. Murphy said South Sudan would send men to their home country.
“It was impossible for these people to have a meaningful opportunity to oppose their move to South Sudan,” Murphy said, restricting the decision to decide whether this occurred in criminal obstruction.
Murphy didn’t specify where to stay while immigrants were waiting, but said it could be a holiday inn.
At an early press conference, DHS’s assistant secretary of public relations, Tricia McLaughlin scolded the reporters to focus on victims of crimes committed by individuals.
“Do your job, we give you the names of these monsters and tell you the stories of innocent Americans they sacrificed,” McLaughlin said. “Each of them was convicted of a heinous crime.”
The president’s senior adviser, Stephen Miller, criticised the ruling from Murphy, confirming that the man has landed in Djibouti. East African countries include Camp Lemonia, a major US African hub, located on the Horn of Africa.
“This local city judge is at risk of diplomatic relations with multiple countries, risking the lives of our personnel, directing the movement of our hometown and military aircraft, and engaged in outrageous, illegal judicial misconduct that is otherwise illegal, pathological, illegal and pathological,” Miller wrote on May 21.
USA Today contacts crime lawyers and victims from a list of eight individuals ranging from murderers to sex offenders to robberies.
A Laos citizen was found guilty of killing a German tourist
Thongxay Nilakout, a Laos citizen, shot dead a German tourist in Southern California in 1994 at the age of 17.
He was convicted of shooting and killing Gisela Pfreger while robbing and injuring her husband Klaus. Klaus survived and celebrated his 93rd birthday.
He spent nearly 28 years in prison before being parole in 2023.
The couple’s daughter, Biltepruger, is a history professor at California State University in Los Angeles. At the time of the murder, she was attending California State University Long Beach, where her parents had visited.
She opposed the parole of Niraku, born with the help of the University of Southern California’s post-conviction Justice Project.
After being released from prison, Niraku was transferred to ice custody and was released in December 2023. Pfreger said he tried to prevent her release to a transitional home near her home and workplace.
Now she said she was against removal into South Sudan. She says her father never told the attacker was not parole and that he was not going to tell him about the removal flight.
“The due process has been violated, and the US legal system has failed twice. At the state level, it has brought Nirakuo parole and at the federal level, it has deported Nirakuo to a third country experiencing violence and hunger.” “When I am helplessly witnessing this blatant disregard for this blatant rule of law, the basic principal of this great country, and indemnifying the act of the “leader,” I am scared of the safety of everyone in this country. ”
The Iowa man removed after the lawyer lost him
Iowa resident Kyaw Mya is also among the people on the flight. MYA was convicted in 2019 of sleepy behavior with a child under the age of 12. He was released on parole four years later.
Since then, MYA has filed several petitions for post-conviction relief, claiming that it is unclear that getting a judicial agreement in his case would make him doubt his immigrant status.
As a Burmese refugee, Mia was protected from deportation until his criminal conviction.
MYA’s lawyers wrote in a court application that they lost contact with MYA in March 2025. MYA’s Sex Offender Registration Office in the Iowa Database indicates that MYA was in an ice detention facility in Pierarl, Texas as of April 18.
In his appeal to overturn his plea agreement, Maia’s lawyer, Christopher Clausen, said he called him from Newton jails in Iowa and Minnesota and from the Marshall County Jail, Iowa.
Clausen said he lost contact with MYA, but his client was moved to the Polk County Jail in Des Moines, where the sheriff’s office hugged him for the ice, he heard from someone working in the court system.
Clausen wrote in a court application that Mya reported “reportedly ended” at the Polk County Jail on March 12. He said he hadn’t been able to find him since then, but the county lawyer told him that Ice had taken Mya to a Texas detention center.
ICE spokesmouth, the Iowa Department of Corrections and the Polk County Sheriff’s Office did not reply to an email and declined to comment on May 21.
“It seems strange to me that a Burmese citizen could be sent to Sudan,” Klausen said. “It sounds like it’s going on. I didn’t think you were deported to a place you’ve never been to before and didn’t speak the language. But it seems to be happening here.”
A list of people sent to South Sudan
Enriquerialus Hiero, Cuban citizens.
- He was found guilty of murder and armed robbery. He was sentenced to 15 years of confinement.
- He was found guilty of official, temptation, robber strong arm false impersonation. He was sentenced to 15 years of confinement.
- He was arrested by ICE on May 2, 2025.
Jose Manuel Rodriguez Quinones, Cuban citizens.
- He was found guilty of attempted first-degree murder with a weapon. He was sentenced to four years of confinement.
- He was found guilty of battery and theft. He was sentenced to 10 months of confinement.
- He was found guilty of possession of cocaine and trafficking of cocaine. They were sentenced to one and three years of confinement, respectively. He was arrested by ICE on April 30, 2025.
You need thongxay, A citizen of Laos.
- He was found guilty of first-degree murder and robbery. He was sentenced to life confinement.
- He was arrested by ICE on January 26th, 2025.
Jesus Munoz Gutierrez, A Mexican citizen.
- He was found guilty of second-degree murder. He was sentenced to life confinement. He was arrested by ICE on May 12, 2025.
Diane Petered Mach, Citizens of South Sudan.
- He was found guilty of robbery and possession of a firearm. He was sentenced to eight years of confinement.
- He was found guilty of possession of robbery equipment and possession of a dirty firearm. He was sentenced to 18 months of confinement.
- He was found guilty of driving under the influence.
- He was arrested by ICE on May 8, 2024.
kyaw mya, A citizen of Burma.
- He was found guilty of scavenging conduct with a victim of a child under the age of 12. He was sentenced to 10 years in confinement after four years of parole.
- He was arrested by ICE on February 18, 2025.
NYO Myint, A citizen of Burma.
- He was found guilty of first-degree sexual assault, including a victim who was unable to resist mentally and physically. He was sentenced to 12 years of confinement.
- He was charged with worsening Assault Non Family Strong Arm.
- He was arrested by ICE on February 19, 2025.
Tuan Thanh Phan, A Vietnamese citizen.
- He was found guilty of first-degree murder and second-degree assault. He was sentenced to 22 years of confinement.
- He was arrested by ICE on May 3, 2025.
(This story has been updated to clarify comments by Birte Pfleger Add a comment from Stephen Miller. )
