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SCOTUS Clears Trump to Resume Third-Country Deportations
U.S. Supreme Court allows Trump to deport migrants to third countries without hearings. Justice Sotomayor slams move as a "gross abuse" risking torture & death.
ND
by News Desk
2025-06-24
SCOTUS Clears Trump to Resume Third-Country Deportations

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to resume deporting migrants to countries other than their own—without giving them a chance to argue the harm they could face—handing President Trump a major legal victory in his aggressive pursuit of rapid deportations.

In a 6-3 decision split along ideological lines, the court lifted an earlier injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston. That injunction had required the government to provide migrants with a “meaningful opportunity” to present fear-based claims before being removed to unstable third countries like South Sudan, Guantanamo Bay, or El Salvador.

The unsigned order from the conservative-majority court provided no reasoning, as is typical in emergency rulings. But Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, issued a scathing dissent.

“Apparently, the court finds the idea that thousands will suffer violence in far-flung locales more palatable than the remote possibility that a district court exceeded its powers,” Sotomayor wrote.
“This is as incomprehensible as it is inexcusable.”

❗ Due Process at Risk

Judge Murphy had ruled in April that the Trump administration’s third-country removal policy likely violated due process, a constitutional guarantee that typically requires notice and a fair hearing before government action.

His ruling came after the Department of Homeland Security sought to deport migrants to South Sudan—where the U.S. itself warns of crime, kidnapping, and armed conflict. The migrants had been held at a U.S. military base in Djibouti as legal challenges unfolded.

Following Monday’s ruling, Judge Murphy clarified that his order barring the immediate deportation of eight South Sudanese men still stands, but the broader protections he offered to other migrants have now been overturned.

⚖️ Legal & Humanitarian Outcry

Trina Realmuto, executive director of the National Immigration Litigation Alliance, called the ruling “horrifying.”

“The court just stripped away the few critical due process protections standing between our plaintiffs and possible torture or death,” she said.

The administration argued that all affected migrants had committed serious crimes—including murder, arson, and robbery—and that their home countries often refused to accept them back. DHS officials called third-country deportation the only viable option.

A White House spokesperson hailed the ruling:

“The Supreme Court’s stay reaffirms the president’s authority to remove criminal illegal aliens and Make America Safe Again,” said Abigail Jackson.

“Fire up the deportation planes,” added DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.

🚨 A Pattern of Defiance

Justice Sotomayor accused the administration of “openly flouting” court orders, including attempts to deport individuals to Guantanamo Bay and Libya, despite past U.S. condemnations of those countries’ human rights records.

“This is not the first time the court closes its eyes to noncompliance,” she warned.
“Each time this court rewards noncompliance… it erodes respect for the rule of law.”

This ruling adds to a string of immigration-related wins for Trump, including the Supreme Court’s earlier decision to let his administration end humanitarian work permits for hundreds of thousands of migrants and impose strict interpretations of the Alien Enemies Act—a law dating back to 1798.

With immigration policy set to be a defining issue in the 2025 presidential race, the ruling is likely to deepen partisan divides and spark renewed legal battles over due process, human rights, and the limits of executive power.

 
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DueProcess

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