Murderers, sex abusers: What to know about the immigrants on disputed flight to South Sudan

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Department of Homeland Security officials released information on eight individuals flown on a chartered removal flight bound for South Sudan May 20.

All were convicted of serious crimes in the United States, but at least one victim’s family has questioned the hasty removal.

Massachusetts federal district judge Brian Murphy ruled May 21 that the flight violated his April order that forbade the government from sending any migrants to third countries without providing them clear information about where they were going and giving them time to raise any concerns about being sent to that country.

Murphy ruled late May 21 that the men had to remain in U.S. custody while they completed credible fear interviews. South Sudan has said they would send the men to their home countries, according Murphy.

“It was impossible for these people to have a meaningful opportunity to object to their transfer to South Sudan,” Murphy said, holding off on deciding whether this rose to criminal obstruction.

Murphy didn’t specify where the migrants should be kept while waiting, though said it could be a Holiday Inn.

At a news conference earlier in the day, Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at DHS, scolded reporters to focus on the victims of the crimes committed by the individuals.

“Do your job, we gave you the names of these monsters, tell the stories of the innocent Americans they victimized,” McLaughlin said. “Every single one of them was convicted of a heinous crime.”

Stephen Miller, a senior adviser to the president, criticized the ruling from Murphy and confirmed the men had landed in Djibouti. The East African nation is home to Camp Lemonnier, the primary base of operations for U.S. Africa Command in the Horn of Africa.

"This local city judge is jeopardizing our diplomatic relationships with multiple nations, putting the lives of our personnel in danger, directing the movements of homeland and military aircraft, and otherwise engaging in outrageous and unconstitutional judicial misconduct that is reprehensible, illegal and pathological," Miller wrote on X May 21.

Paste BN is contacting attorneys and victims of the crimes from the list of eight individuals who range from murderers to sex offenders to robbers.

Citizen of Laos convicted of killing German tourist

Thongxay Nilakout, a citizen of Laos, shot and killed a German tourist in Southern California in 1994 when he was 17.

He was convicted of shooting and killing Gisela Pfleger and wounding her husband Klaus, during a robbery. Klaus survived and just celebrated his 93^rd birthday.

He spent nearly 28 years in prison before he was paroled in 2023.

The couple’s daughter, Birte Pfleger, is a history professor at California State University, Los Angeles. At the time of the murder, she was attending California State Long Beach and her parents were visiting.

She opposed Nilakout’s parole that came with help from the University of Southern California’s Post-Conviction Justice Project.

After his release from prison, Nilakout was transferred to ICE custody and then released in December 2023. Pfleger said she attempted to prevent his release to transitional housing near her home or work.

Now, she opposes the removal to South Sudan. She says she never told her father his attacker was paroled and doesn’t intend to tell him about the removal flight.

“Due process has been violated, and the US legal system has failed twice: at the state level which resulted in Nilakout's parole and at the federal level, which deported Nilakout to a third country that is experiencing violence and famine,” Pfleger wrote in a statement to Paste BN. “As I helplessly witness this blatant disregard for the rule of law – a foundational principal of this great country – and watch supposed 'leaders' act with impunity, I am afraid for the safety of everyone in this country.”

Iowa man removed after attorneys lose him

An Iowa resident, Kyaw Mya, is also among those on the flight. Mya was convicted in 2019 of lascivious acts with a child less than 12 years old. He was paroled after four years.

Since then, Mya has filed several petitions for post-conviction relief, arguing he was unclear that taking a plea agreement in his case would put his immigration status in doubt.

As a Burmese refugee, Mya had protection from deportation, until his criminal conviction.

An attorney for Mya wrote in a court filing that he lost contact with Mya in March 2025. A sex offender registry for Mya in the Iowa database indicates Mya was at an ICE detention facility in Pearsall, Texas as of April 18.

Christopher Clausen, Mya’s attorney in his appeal to overturn his plea agreement, said Mya called him from prisons in Newton, Iowa, and Minnesota, as well as a jail in Marshall County, Iowa.

Clausen said he lost touch with Mya, but he heard from someone who works in the court system that his client had been transferred to the Polk County Jail in Des Moines, where the sheriff’s office held him for ICE.

In a court filing, Clausen wrote that Mya’s stay at the Polk County jail “reportedly ended” on March 12. He said he has not been able to find him since, but a county attorney told him that ICE took Mya to a detention center in Texas.

Spokespeople for ICE, the Iowa Department of Corrections and the Polk County Sheriff’s Office did not return emails or declined to comment on May 21.

“It seems odd to me that a person who is a citizen of Burma could be getting sent to Sudan,” Clausen said. “It sounds like that’s what‘s happening. I didn't think you could get deported to a place where you’ve never been and don’t speak the language. But that seems to be what’s happening here.”

List of people sent to South Sudan

Enrique Arias-Hierro, a citizen of Cuba.

• Convicted of homicide and armed robbery; sentenced to 15 years confinement.
• Convicted of false impersonation of official, kidnapping, and robbery strong arm; sentenced to 15 years confinement.
• Arrested by ICE on May 2, 2025.

Jose Manuel Rodriguez-Quinones, a citizen of Cuba.

• Convicted of attempted first degree murder with a weapon; sentenced to 4 years confinement.
• Convicted of battery and larceny; sentenced to 10 months confinement.
• Convicted of cocaine possession and cocaine trafficking; sentenced to 1 year and 3 years confinement respectively. Arrested by ICE on April 30, 2025.

Thongxay Nilakout, a citizen of Laos. 

• Convicted of first-degree murder and robbery; sentenced to life confinement.
• Arrested by ICE on January 26, 2025.

Jesus Munoz-Gutierrez, a citizen of Mexico.

• Convicted of second-degree murder; sentenced to life confinement. Arrested by ICE on May 12, 2025.

Dian Peter Domach, a citizen of South Sudan.

• Convicted of robbery and possession of a firearm; sentenced to 8 years confinement.
• Convicted of possession of burglar’s tools and possession of defaced firearm; sentenced to 18 months confinement.
• Convicted of driving under the influence.
• Arrested by ICE on May 8, 2024.

Kyaw Mya, a citizen of Burma.

• Convicted of Lascivious Acts with a Child-Victim less than 12 years of age; sentenced to 10 years confinement, paroled after 4 years.
• Arrested by ICE on February 18, 2025.

Nyo Myint, a citizen of Burma.

• Convicted of first-degree sexual assault involving a victim mentally and physically incapable of resisting; sentenced to 12 years confinement.
• Charged with aggravated assault-nonfamily strongarm.
• Arrested by ICE on February 19, 2025.

Tuan Thanh Phan, a citizen of Vietnam.

• Convicted of first-degree murder and second-degree assault; sentenced to 22 years confinement.
• Arrested by ICE on May 3, 2025. 

(This story has been updated to clarify comments by Birte Pfleger and add comment from Stephen Miller.)