Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers have been stranded in the country of Djibouti, located in eastern Africa, and are under threats of rocket attacks from Yemen after a federal judge blocked the deportation of criminal illegal immigrants to South Sudan. The foreign nationals were convicted of murder, sexual assault of minors, robbery, arson, and other crimes.

Three ICE officers are now stuck guarding eight criminals who entered the US illegally. The deported criminals are staying in a shipping container located on a US naval base in the African country and have to be watched around the clock by the ICE officers, per the New York Post. 

When the team of ICE officers arrived with the criminals to the US naval base in the region, they were informed by the Pentagon that the base would be under threat of rocket fire from the Houthi terrorist across the Red See in Yemen. The officers have also been exposed to toxic smoke from burning pits located near the base. 

In May, US District Court Judge Brian Murphy ordered that the flight of convicts be grounded because he claimed that the Trump administration had "unquestionably" violated an order from March that said illegal immigrants would not be deported to countries where they were not from. The order also said that the convicted criminals should have have written notice as well as get a chance to challenge the deportation. 

The ICE officers had to land the plane, while also not having any anti-malaria medication which is highly recommended for the area. They were able to access that medication two days after landing at the base. Some ICE officers "began to feel ill within 72 hours of landing in Djibouti," a DHS source relayed to the outlet. 

On the flight carrying the eight convicted criminals, only one of the illegal immigrants was originally from Sudan. The others had come to the US from Mexico, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos, and Cuba. When the Trump administration removed the criminals from the US, officials said that their crimes were so “monstrous and barbaric” that no other country would accpet their return. 

The eight convicts who were deported from the US include Enrique Arias Hierro, who was convicted of a 1999 attempted murder as well as robbery. In 2007, Hierro was also convicted of kidnapping robery, and the impersonation of a police officer. 

Another Cuban illegal immigrant on the removal flight was Jose Manuel Rodriguez-Quinones, who was convicted in a 2008 arson case as well as for trafficking cocaine. He was also convicted in 2022 of attempted first-degree murder and was found guilty for illegal possession of a firearm. 

Thongxay Nilakout, who hails from Laos, was found guilty in 1995 of murdering a German tourist taking a trip in California. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Mexican citizen Jesus Munoz-Gutierrez was found guilty of second-degree murder after he stabbed his own roommate to death. He was later sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Two convicted criminals from Myanmar who illegally entered the US were also in the deported group. Kyaw Mya was given 10 years in prison for sexually assaulting a minor repeatedly between 2011 and 2017, and was convicted in 2019 of the crime. The abuse from Mya started when the victim was only 7 years of age. The other convict from Myanmar is Nyo Myint, who was found guilty of sexually assaulting a victim who was incapable of resisting the crime. He was given 12 years in prison. 

Tuan Thanh Phan, of Vietnam, was also in the group, and was sentenced to 22 years in prison after he "randomly" shot a gun into a crowd after a gang dispute. He was convicted of first degree murder. 

The eighth is Dian Peter Domach, who is the only illegal immigrant convict from Sudan. He was convicted of armed robery in 2014 handed a sentence of 14 years in prison. 

A source from DHS said that none of violent criminals who illegally entered the US appealed their removal following their convictions. Trump has requested that the Supreme Court overturn Murphy's decision to prevent the convicts from being sent to Sudan.

Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in an emergency appeal to the high court, “This case addresses the government’s ability to remove some of the worst of the worst illegal immigrants. The United States is facing a crisis of illegal immigration, in no small part because many aliens most deserving of removal are often the hardest to remove."