Supreme Court lifts block on Trump administration's third-country deportations
The U.S. Supreme Court granted the government’s emergency request, allowing the administration to resume deportations to countries with which immigrants have no prior ties, while scheduling oral arguments for December.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted an emergency request from the government that removes a lower-court injunction on the administration’s policy of sending certain non-citizens to “third countries” where they have no prior connection. The unsigned order also set December oral arguments and indicated a final ruling will follow.
The justices were split, with the three liberal members dissenting. The decision overturns a 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that had held the policy unlawful because detainees were not given a proper opportunity to raise safety concerns.
"The Supreme Court action means that people facing removal to third countries are once again at immediate risk of being sent to places where they have no meaningful opportunity to seek protection," said Trina Realmuto, a lawyer with the National Immigration Litigation Alliance.
Four unnamed immigrants had challenged the policy, arguing that deportees should be allowed to demonstrate a risk of torture or persecution. District Judge Brian Murphy had previously ruled in their favor, a decision the Supreme Court blocked last year.
The Department of Homeland Security did not comment. In a filing, Solicitor General D. John Sauer said that halting the deportations created logistical problems, added expense, potential diplomatic issues, and impeded the removal of dangerous criminals. He noted that a scheduled flight carrying 70 individuals with criminal convictions was canceled after the injunction took effect.
The administration maintains that individualized determinations are unnecessary because partner countries have pledged not to mistreat deportees, and it will not proceed without assurances that detainees will not face torture or persecution.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs highlighted that lower-court rulings do not require release from detention, only that detainees be given a chance to object. The lead plaintiff, identified only as D.V.D., is a Cuban national with severe mental illness who fears lack of psychiatric care if deported.
The case will return to the Court later this year for a definitive decision on the legality of the third-country removal program.