Trump’s Swift Deportation Of Certain Immigrants To “Third Countries” Backed By Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the way for the Trump administration to deport immigrants convicted of crimes to third countries—even those they have no prior ties to—by halting a federal judge’s order that granted affected individuals a chance to challenge their removal. The unsigned decision, issued without an explanation, enables the government to expedite deportations to countries like South Sudan, even as litigation continues over the legality of such actions.

Trina Realmuto of the National Immigration Litigation Alliance warned that the ruling "strips away critical due process protections that have been protecting our class members from torture and death." Meanwhile, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin praised the court’s action as a "victory for the safety and security of the American people," stating, “DHS can now execute its lawful authority and remove illegal aliens to a country willing to accept them… Fire up the deportation planes.”

The court's three liberal justices dissented. Justice Sonia Sotomayor argued the majority was “rewarding lawlessness” by letting the administration defy an earlier court order. “Thousands will suffer violence in far-flung locales,” she wrote, criticizing the court’s disregard for due process rights.

U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy had previously ruled that affected migrants must receive notice and have at least 10 days to contest deportation to third countries. The judge emphasized the plaintiffs simply sought “an opportunity to explain why such a deportation will likely result in their persecution, torture and/or death.” Despite this, the administration proceeded to deport eight men to South Sudan, in violation of the order, prompting further judicial scrutiny.

Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued that Murphy’s ruling imposed “onerous” restrictions that interfere with presidential foreign policy authority. He claimed the administration must rely on sensitive diplomacy to convince other countries to accept deportees, especially those with criminal convictions.

The four lead plaintiffs, from Cuba, Honduras, Ecuador, and Guatemala, challenged their deportation under a law that allows third-country removal only when return to their home country is “impracticable, inadvisable, or impossible.” One plaintiff, a gay Guatemalan man known as O.C.G., was previously deported to Mexico, where he was kidnapped and raped, before being returned to the U.S. earlier this month.

Link: NBCNews