Supreme Court allows Trump to restart swift deportation of migrants away from their home countries
Share and Follow


WASHINGTON (AP) A divided Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to restart swift removals of migrants to countries other than their homelands, lifting for now a court order requiring they get a chance to challenge the deportations.

The high court majority did not detail its reasoning in the brief order, as is typical on its emergency docket. All three liberal justices dissented from the order.

It came after immigration officials put eight people on a plane to South Sudan in May. U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy in Boston found that violated his court order giving people a chance to argue they could be in danger of torture if sent away from their home countries.

The migrants from countries including Myanmar, Vietnam and Cuba had been convicted of serious crimes in the U.S. and immigration officials have said that they were unable to return them quickly to their home countries.

After Murphy stepped in, authorities landed the plane at a U.S. naval base in Djibouti, where the migrants were housed in a converted shipping container and the officers guarding them faced rough conditions even as immigration attorneys waited for word from their clients.

The case comes amid a sweeping immigration crackdown by Republican President Donald Trump’s administration, which has pledged to deport millions of people who are living in the United States illegally.

Since some countries do not accept U.S. deportations, the administration has reached agreements with other countries, including Panama and Costa Rica, to house them. South Sudan, meanwhile, has endured repeated waves of violence since gaining independence in 2011.

Murphy’s order doesn’t prohibit deportations to third countries. But it says migrants must have a real chance to argue they could be in serious danger of torture if sent to another country.

In a scathing 19-page dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that the court’s action exposes “thousands to the 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 in the dissent joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

The justices have confronted a similar issue in Trump’s effort to send Venezuelans accused of being gang members to a notorious prison in El Salvador with little chance to challenge the deportations in court.

In that case, the court said migrants must get a “reasonable time” to file a court challenge before being removed, and the majority blocked the administration from resuming the deportations while lower courts worked out exactly how long they should get.

The conservative-majority court has sided with Trump in other immigration cases, however, clearing the way for his administration to end temporary legal protections affecting a total of nearly a million immigrants.

The third-country deportation case has been one of several legal flashpoints as the administration rails against judges whose rulings have slowed the president’s policies.

Another order from Murphy, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, resulted in the Trump administration returning a gay Guatemalan man who had been wrongly deported to Mexico, where he says he had been raped and extorted. The man, identified in court papers as O.C.G, was the first person known to have been returned to U.S. custody after deportation since the start of Trump’s second term.

Share and Follow
You May Also Like
Moment Huntingdon train knife attack suspect is wrestled to the floor

Suspect in Huntingdon Train Knife Attack Subdued by Bystanders

This dramatic scene unfolded at the Huntingdon train station as one of…
Outrage as Swedish court refuses to deport convicted rapist, PM promises crackdown

Swedish Court’s Controversial Decision on Convicted Rapist Sparks National Outrage; PM Vows Swift Legal Reforms

A Swedish appeals court’s ruling to not deport a man convicted of…
Salvador Lozano charged with attempted murder for Addison shooting, police standoff in 200-block of East La Porte Drive: officials

Officials Charge Salvador Lozano with Attempted Murder Following Addison Shooting and Police Standoff on East La Porte Drive

In Addison, Illinois, a 45-year-old man named Salvador Lozano is facing serious…
Meghan Markle 'wants to become a billionaire', says royal expert

Meghan Markle’s Ambitious Path to Billionaire Status: Royal Expert Weighs In

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry boast a combined wealth estimated at £60…
Hurricane Melissa Jamaica: Trinette Britt-Johnson, of Rich Township, IL, returns home after days without kidney transplant meds

Heroic Return: Trinette Britt-Johnson’s Journey Home Amidst Hurricane Melissa’s Chaos

RICH TOWNSHIP, Ill. (WLS) — Trinette Britt-Johnson, a woman known for her…
Major win for man who triggered property war after cutting down trees

Significant Victory for Individual Who Sparked Property Dispute by Felling Trees

In a surprising legal turn, a Massachusetts man accused of illegally cutting…
'South Park' mocks Pam Bondi as Trump ‘brown-noser’

South Park Takes Aim at Pam Bondi with Satirical Trump Allegiance

In a recent episode of “South Park,” the show took aim at…
Five more arrested in Louvre heist investigation as stolen crown jewels worth $102M still missing

Five Additional Arrests Made in Ongoing Louvre Heist Probe; $102M Worth of Crown Jewels Still Unrecovered

In a significant development, French authorities announced on Thursday the arrest of…