ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
The Trump administration has a plan to send migrants to Libya as soon as this week. U.S. officials have spent the last few months talking to countries willing to take in people deported from the U.S. NPR's Ximena Bustillo is here in the studio to explain. Hey there.
XIMENA BUSTILLO, BYLINE: Hey, Ari.
SHAPIRO: So what's the latest on this plan to send migrants to Libya?
BUSTILLO: My colleague, Tom Bowman, confirmed the administration is planning to use Libya as a destination for migrants removed from the U.S., though he cautions flights haven't taken off yet, and plans could change. Earlier this week, Rwanda's foreign minister confirmed it was also in talks with Washington about the same issue. And of course, the U.S. has had similar deals already with Mexico and El Salvador. But now the deportations to Libya would be carried out by the U.S. military. It's not clear, though, how many people or what nationalities would be sent under the deal. Tom's source, who was not authorized to speak publicly, says that it would be less than a plane full. President Trump, however, told reporters he didn't know about the plan.
SHAPIRO: What concerns have been raised about this?
BUSTILLO: I'd note Libya's U.N.-backed government issued a statement today that expressed, quote, "a clear rejection of this approach." That's the government that controls Western Libya, while a military strongman controls the east. And all these countries have been floated to take in migrants from - in Africa - have notorious human rights records. Libya itself is a popular route for migrants from other parts of Africa who are trying to make it to Europe. Human rights groups condemn how these migrants have been treated in Libya.
SHAPIRO: You mentioned that the U.S. has made other deals to take in migrants and is trying to make still more. Why is this a focus for the administration?
BUSTILLO: You know, one of the main goals is to send migrants further away to avoid people crossing back over U.S. borders. That's according to secretary of state, Marco Rubio. But there's also practical considerations. About 1.4 million people in the U.S. have deportation orders, according to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. But there are many challenges to being able to remove these people and get them back to their home countries. One reason is that their home countries may not agree to accept them back, or they have limits on how many people or flights that they can take.
So the Trump administration is aiming to make inroads with others to be, quote, "third-party countries" that can take in these deportees. These are countries that the people are not originally from, but they're going to go. And these countries are willing to take them after they've been removed out of the U.S., so they're a third destination for these people.
SHAPIRO: Are we likely to see more legal challenges to this plan to send migrants abroad, as we have with some of Trump's other immigration plans?
BUSTILLO: Yeah, in fact, we have. Immigration lawyers filed an emergency motion asking a judge in Massachusetts to block removals to Libya or any third country. And they argue their clients, who are Laotian, Vietnamese and Filipino, could be sent in a matter of hours. The judge in the case already issued an injunction limiting the Homeland Security Department's ability to remove migrants to these third countries. In a ruling late Wednesday, they said the order applies to any flights to Libya, too, and it doesn't matter if those flights come from other agencies, including the Department of Defense.
SHAPIRO: That is NPR's Ximena Bustillo. Thank you.
BUSTILLO: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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