ICE Officers, Deportees Trapped in Djibouti Shipping Container

US federal court documents reveal that approximately 12 Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers (ICE) and eight deportees are suffering from illnesses and living in harsh conditions inside a metal shipping container in Djibouti.

More than two weeks ago, Boston federal judge Brian E. Murphy halted a deportation flight transporting migrants from Cuba, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, and Mexico to South Sudan, ruling that the operation violated his April injunction, which prohibits deporting people to countries other than their home countries without giving them an opportunity to seek humanitarian protection. 

The judge ordered the responsible authorities to conduct humanitarian protection screenings in accordance with the Convention against Torture.

Instead of returning them to the United States, authorities transported the migrants to Djibouti, where a shipping container was converted into a temporary detention center inside the only US military base in Africa, Camp Lemonnier.

Melissa Harper, a senior immigration official, testified in court that three officers and eight detainees arrived at the base unprepared for potential hazards, such as extreme temperatures, air pollution, and the security threat from Yemen.

She added that the officers were not provided with protective clothing or equipment, despite advance warnings of "an imminent threat of rocket attacks from groups in Yemen." 

Harper added that daytime temperatures exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit, while at night, a "dense fog" formed from smoke from burning trash and human waste around the base, causing symptoms of acute respiratory infections in the officers and detainees, such as coughing, difficulty breathing, fever, and joint pain.