ICE Officers and Migrants Trapped in Harsh Conditions on U.S. Naval Base in Djibouti Amid Legal Dispute

More than a dozen ICE officers alongside a group of eight migrants that had been placed on a deportation flight originally bound for South Sudan are now being held in a converted shipping container on a US naval base in Djibouti in the stifling heat, in horrendous conditions

More than a dozen U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and eight migrants scheduled for deportation to South Sudan are currently stranded in a makeshift detention facility—a converted shipping container—on a U.S. naval base in Djibouti. The group has been confined in extreme heat, thick smoke from nearby burn pits, and under the looming threat of rocket attacks, according to federal court documents.

The group has remained at the base for over two weeks after a deportation flight was rerouted. U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy in Massachusetts halted the deportation, ruling that the Trump administration violated a court order by attempting to remove the migrants—who come from Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar, and South Sudan—to a country they are not from. The judge emphasized that the individuals must be allowed to raise concerns about potential dangers they might face in South Sudan.

The migrants being deported to South Sudan by the Trump administration

The eight detainees, all previously convicted of serious crimes such as murder and sexual assault, were deported in late May after their countries of origin refused to accept them. The Trump administration redirected the flight to Djibouti, located roughly 1,000 miles from South Sudan, pending a court decision. Neither the migrants nor the ICE officers are permitted to leave the shipping container facility until the case is resolved—a process that could take several more weeks.

Inside the container, conditions are reportedly dire. Court declarations describe suffocating heat with daily outdoor temperatures exceeding 100°F. The facility, formerly a conference room, lacks adequate ventilation, security systems, and space for safe long-term detention. Trash and human waste are disposed of in nearby burn pits, filling the air with noxious fumes. ICE officers have begun wearing masks to sleep, and both detainees and guards are suffering from respiratory infections, fever, joint pain, and severe discomfort.

The men and their guards are dealing are living in a shipping container and contending with baking hot temperatures, smoke from nearby burn pits and the threat of rocket attacks

According to Mellissa B. Harper, acting executive deputy associate director of enforcement and removal operations, ICE agents did not complete their anti-malarial medication regimen before arriving and have limited medical supplies remaining. Thirteen ICE officials have already fallen ill, and the group lacks protective gear in the event of a rocket attack—a threat identified by the Department of Defense due to nearby militant activity in Yemen.

Each time the detainees use the restroom, located 40 yards away, they undergo full pat-downs and security checks. The eight individuals are allowed to shower only every other day and share just six beds with the officers in the cramped container space.

Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti is the largest US military base in Africa

The Department of Homeland Security expressed outrage, saying that the federal court’s decision is endangering American law enforcement personnel by trapping them in unsafe conditions without sufficient resources or medical care. DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin called the situation "reprehensible," emphasizing that the migrants had final deportation orders due to their criminal histories and that no other country would accept them.

Human rights advocates, including Robyn Barnard of Human Rights First, have raised alarms about the inability of lawyers to speak with the detainees. Barnard testified at a congressional hearing, noting that some family members managed to reach the migrants by phone.

An US airman walks towards a housing area composed of containerized living units at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti

The Department of Justice has filed an emergency appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking it to overturn lower court rulings and allow deportations to third countries to resume. The case has intensified political tensions over the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration policies and its conflicts with federal judges viewed as obstructing mass deportations.

As the legal and humanitarian crisis unfolds, the conditions faced by both the ICE officers and detainees remain under scrutiny, highlighting the complex consequences of U.S. immigration enforcement abroad.