Thongxay Nilakout, 48, from Laos, was released from a life sentence in 2023 after a Supreme Court ruling found mandatory life sentences for minors unconstitutional. He was arrested by immigration authorities in January 2025 and placed on a deportation flight bound for South Sudan, which a federal judge ruled violated a court order requiring a meaningful chance to contest removal. Birte Pfleger, the daughter of the woman Nilakout was convicted of killing, said she was never notified of his arrest or deportation despite requesting updates, and expressed discomfort with how the removal was carried out.