A divided US Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to resume deporting undocumented migrants to countries that are not their country of origin.
The unsigned order, issued by the conservative-leaning court, came after the Justice Department filed an emergency appeal to overturn a lower court’s decision that had temporarily blocked so-called third-country deportations.
The Supreme Court did not explain its ruling, and the court’s three liberal justices dissented.
While the broader legal case will now proceed through the appeals court, Monday’s decision enables US authorities to recommence deportations in the interim.
In April, District Judge Brian Murphy had halted the practice, ruling that migrants were not being given a “meaningful opportunity” to challenge their removal orders.
He ordered that they should be granted at least 15 days to contest their deportations and to present evidence showing they could face torture or death if expelled.
The case centres around eight men—two from Myanmar, two from Cuba, as well as individuals from Vietnam, Laos, Mexico, and South Sudan—whom US authorities described as convicted violent criminals. They were en route to war-torn South Sudan when Judge Murphy’s injunction was issued and have since been held at a US military facility in Djibouti.
The Trump administration has defended the practice, arguing that many of the migrants’ home countries refuse to accept their return, making third-country deportations necessary.
In her dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor condemned the administration’s actions as “flagrantly unlawful conduct” that leaves thousands at risk of torture or death.
“The government has made clear in word and deed that it feels itself unconstrained by law, free to deport anyone anywhere without notice or an opportunity to be heard,” she wrote.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) celebrated the Supreme Court’s ruling as a “victory for the safety and security of the American people.”
Posting on X, formerly Twitter, the DHS declared, “If these activist judges had their way, aliens who are so uniquely barbaric that their own countries won’t take them back—including convicted murderers, child rapists, and drug traffickers—would walk free on American streets. DHS can now execute its lawful authority and remove illegal aliens to a country willing to accept them. Fire up the deportation planes.”
Donald Trump, who campaigned on promises to expel millions of undocumented migrants, has stepped up deportation efforts since returning to the White House in January. However, his mass deportation policies have faced repeated legal challenges, including from the Supreme Court itself, amid concerns over violations of due process.
In a related case, Judge Murphy, appointed by Trump’s Democratic predecessor Joe Biden, also temporarily blocked deportations of some Asian migrants to Libya.
