More unbelievable #gaslighting:

#JDVance made the argument that #Trump is “a genuine humanitarian,” & said “he just wants the killing to stop.”

Right, the guy deporting #children with #cancer who are #UScitizens, sending #asylum seekers to #CECOT & now #Libya, separating #families, canceling #funding to combat #InfectiousDisease & to make heart pumps for #babies w/ heart defects, yeah he’s a real #humanitarian. Go fuck yourself JD.

A govt filing indicated that #DHS did not “direct” Dept of #Defense to fly the plane to #ElSalvador. [to evade a #CourtOrder enjoining the DHS from further #deportations to El Salvador]

Reuters report: #US may soon deport migrants to #Libya on #military flight, sources say - https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-may-soon-deport-migrants-libya-military-flight-sources-say-2025-05-07/

The planned use of a #military plane for the flight to #Libya comes after the #Defense Dept has assisted in transporting migrants to locations such as #India, #Guatemala & #Ecuador.

In late March, #DOD ofcls flew a group of #Venezuelan migrants to #ElSalvador without any staff from #DHS on the plane, acc/to court records. The flight took off from #GuantánamoBay, Cuba, to El Salvador & included 4 Venezuelans.

#Amnest International branded those sites “horrific” & “a hellscape” in a 2021 report, which found evidence of “#SexualViolence, against men, women & children.” The Global Detention Project says detained migrants in #Libya endure “physical mistreatment & #torture,” forced labor & even #slavery.

The #US has formal relations only w/the #Tripoli government. But Haftar’s son, Saddam, was in Washington last week, & met w/several #Trump admin ofcls. Trump had friendly dealings in his first term w/Haftar, who controls most of #Libya’s lucrative #oil fields.

A major transit point for Europe-bound migrants, Libya operates numerous detention facilities for refugees & migrants.

The #State Dept warns against traveling to #Libya “due to crime, terrorism, unexploded land mines, civil unrest, kidnapping & armed conflict.” The country remains divided after years of civil war following the 2011 overthrow of its longtime dictator, Muammar Gaddafi. A United Nations-recognized government in Tripoli rules western Libya, & another in Benghazi, led by the warlord Khalifa Haftar, controls the east.

The planning for the flight to #Libya has been tightly held, & could still be derailed by logistical, legal or diplomatic obstacles.

The potential use of Libya as a destination comes after the #Trump admin set off an earlier furor by deporting a group of #Venezuelans to #ElSalvador, where they are being held in a maximum-security prison designed for terrorists.

The #Libya operation falls in line w/the #Trump admin’s effort to not only deter migrants from trying to enter the country illegally but also to send a strong message to those in the country illegally that they can be deported to countries where they could face brutal conditions. Reuters earlier reported the possibility of a US #deportation flight to Libya.

The #Trump admin is planning to transport a group of immigrants to #Libya on a US #military plane, acc/to US ofcls, another sharp escalation in a #deportation program that has sparked widespread #legal challenges & intense political debate.

The nationalities of the migrants were not immediately clear, but a flight to Libya carrying the deportees could leave as soon as Wednesday, acc/to the ofcls…

The decision to send deportees to Libya was striking.