The foreign men convicted of crimes who were placed on a deportation flight headed for the chaotic nation of South Sudan were originally from countries as far away as Mexico and Vietnam. They had lived in various places from California to Iowa, Nebraska to Florida, with one serving a sentence of nearly 30 years.

Immigration authorities refused to say what their final destinations would be, but said their home countries had refused to receive the migrants.

The Department of Homeland Security under President Donald Trump is preparing to deport a plane full of migrants from various countries to South Sudan — a nation teetering on the brink of civil war — defying a court order to do so,

The United States is being asked to explain why it appears to be deporting migrants from as far away as Vietnam and Cuba to South Sudan.