Lawyers said Wednesday that US officials told some migrants they would be sent back to Libya. The migrants are not from Libya, and the country has a history of not respecting human rights. A judge said these people cannot be sent back without a chance to argue against it in court.

The legal problems are happening because the Trump government wants to deport many people. They are trying to send migrants to countries where they are not from. A controversial example of sending people to another country is sending Venezuelans to a well-known prison in El Salvador.

Sending people who are being removed from the U.S. to Libya, a country known for treating migrants badly, would be a big step in the government's plan to have other countries accept them.

A U.S. official said on Wednesday that they planned to fly migrants to Libya on a military plane. However, they didn't know the exact time of the flight. The official did not want their name used because they were discussing military plans.

Immigration lawyers say some clients from countries like Vietnam, Laos, and the Philippines were told by immigration officers they would be sent back to Libya. They also said some clients were told they would be sent to Saudi Arabia.

Immigration officers in southern Texas reportedly asked six people they were holding to sign a paper agreeing to be sent back to Libya, according to lawyers who represent people from Vietnam.

The lawyers wrote that when everyone said no, they were put in separate rooms and had their hands tied to make them sign it.

For example, a lawyer for a man from the Philippines told ICE in San Antonio that his client was afraid of being sent to Libya and needed to have a meeting before they sent him.

The judge said that migrants must have the chance to fight against being sent away.

Lawyers went to court on Wednesday to ask Judge Brian E. Murphy in Massachusetts for help. Judge Murphy was already in charge of a case against the Trump government about sending people back to countries where they were not citizens.

In March, he decided that people cannot be sent back to their home country, even if they have used all other legal options, until they have a real chance to explain why it would be dangerous for them.

On Wednesday, he said that sending people to Libya very soon would clearly go against the court's order. He also told the government to give details about the claims.

Besides sending Venezuelans to El Salvador, the government also sent people to Panama and Costa Rica who were not from those countries.

Sending someone to a country that is not their own has caused many questions about fair legal treatment, especially in El Salvador, and if they will be treated badly again.

Besides these three Central American countries, the Trump government said it was considering other countries to send people who need to leave. When asked on Wednesday if Libya was one of these countries, the government did not say much.

President Donald Trump asked the Department of Homeland Security to answer questions.

The government in Tripoli, led by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, said on Wednesday that they had "no agreement or cooperation" with the U.S. to take in migrants. But they said that "other groups" might have agreed to accept them.

This seems to mean the other government in eastern Libya, led by the strong military leader Khalifa Hifter. Libya has been divided for years between two different governments in the east and west, each supported by armed groups and other countries.

The Libya National Army, led by Hifter, controls eastern and southern Libya. They also released a statement saying they did not agree to take migrants from the U.S.

"Migrants will not be allowed into areas controlled by the Libyan military, no matter the reason," it said.

Many reports show that migrants held in Libya are treated badly. UN investigators said they found evidence of possible very serious crimes, such as murder, torture, forcing people into slavery, killing people without a trial, and sexual assault.

Migrants told The Associated Press they were often beaten and hurt while their families were asked for money. Their bodies had marks from old and new injuries, like bullet and knife cuts on their backs, legs, arms, and faces.