WASHINGTON
\nUS President Donald Trump\u2019s administration may deport migrants to Libya for the first time this week, three US officials said on Tuesday, as part of his immigration crackdown and despite Washington\u2019s past condemnation of Libya\u2019s harsh treatment of detainees.
\nTwo of the officials said the US military could fly the migrants to the North African country as soon as Wednesday, but stressed that plans could change.
\nThe Pentagon referred queries to the White House. The White House and Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A State Department spokesperson said: \u201cWe do not discuss the details of our diplomatic communications with other governments.\u201d
\nReuters could not determine how many migrants would be sent to Libya or the nationalities of the individuals that the administration is eyeing for deportation. Libya\u2019s Government of National Unity said on Wednesday it rejected the use of Libyan territory as a destination for deporting migrants without its knowledge or consent. It also said there was no coordination with the United States regarding the reception of migrants.
\nKhalifa Haftar\u2019s Libyan National Army, which controls eastern Libya, also rejected in a statement the idea of the country taking migrants deported from the United States, saying it \u201cviolates the sovereignty of the homeland.\u201d
\nTrump, who made immigration a major issue during his election campaign, has launched aggressive enforcement action since taking office, surging troops to the southern border and pledging to deport millions of immigrants in the United States illegally.
\nAs of Monday, the Trump administration has deported 152,000 people, according to DHS.
\nThe administration has tried to encourage migrants to leave voluntarily by threatening steep fines, trying to strip away legal status, and deporting migrants to notorious prisons in Guantanamo Bay and El Salvador.
\nLIFE-THREATENING
\nIn its annual human rights report released last year, the US State Department criticized Libya\u2019s \u201charsh and life-threatening prison conditions\u201d and \u201carbitrary arrest or detention.\u201d
\nIn its travel advisory, the Department advises US citizens against visiting the country due to \u201ccrime, civil unrest, kidnapping and armed conflict.\u201d
\nLibya\u2019s west is overseen by the GNU under Prime Minister Abdulhamid Al-Dbeibah, who was installed in Tripoli through a UN-backed process in 2021. Eastern Libya has a parallel administration and is controlled by commander Khalifa Haftar\u2019s Libyan National Army.
\nMajor fighting ended with a truce in 2020 but the underlying political dispute between the sides remains and there are sporadic clashes between rival factions.
\nUS Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week said the United States was not satisfied only with sending migrants to El Salvador, and hinted that Washington was looking to expand the number of countries that it may deport people to.
\n\u201cWe are working with other countries to say: We want to send you some of the most despicable human beings, will you do this as a favor to us,\u201d Rubio said at a cabinet meeting at the White House last Wednesday.
\n\u201cAnd the further away from America, the better.\u201d
\nA fourth US official said the administration has for several weeks been looking at a number of countries to send migrants to, including Libya.
\nIt wasn\u2019t immediately clear if the administration had struck an agreement with the Libyan authorities to accept deportees of other nationalities. On April 19 the Supreme Court justices temporarily barred the Trump administration from deporting a group of Venezuelan migrants it accused of being gang members. Trump\u2019s administration, which has invoked a rarely used wartime law, has urged the justices to lift or narrow their order.
\nIt is unclear what kind of due process might be underway ahead of any Libya deportations.
\nLibya has had little peace since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising, and it split in 2014 between eastern and western factions, with rival administrations governing in each area.
\nA Tripoli-based Government of National Unity under Prime Minister Abdulhamid Al-Dbeibah was installed through a UN-backed process in 2021 but the Benghazi-based House of Representatives no longer recognizes its legitimacy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON US President Donald Trump\u2019s administration may deport migrants to Libya for the first time this week, three US officials said on Tuesday, as part of his immigration crackdown and despite Washington\u2019s past condemnation of Libya\u2019s harsh treatment of detainees. Two of the officials said the US military could fly the migrants to the North […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":477100,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-477073","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n