Judge warns US deportations to South Sudan may breach court order

The judge orders the migrants to be kept in US government custody, holding the plane on the tarmac if necessary.

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Judge Brian Murphy said the removals could violate his order last month barring the US government from sending migrants to third countries without being given "meaningful opportunity" to challenge their deportation.

In an emergency submission to the judge, immigration attorneys said a flight carrying a dozen people had landed in South Sudan on Tuesday.

It is the latest showdown between Trump and the federal courts as the Republican president seeks to deliver on a campaign pledge for mass deportations.

Attorneys from the National Immigration Litigation Alliance asked Judge Murphy on Tuesday for an emergency order to prevent the removals, which they said had included citizens of Myanmar and Vietnam.