Supreme Court Clears Trump to Resume Third-Country Deportations, South Sudan Flight

The U.S. Supreme Court on 23 June voted 6–3 to lift a lower-court injunction that had required the Trump administration to give migrants at least 10 days’ notice and a chance to object before being deported to so-called third countries. The unsigned order, opposed by Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, restores the administration’s ability to send non-citizens to nations with which they have no prior connection, such as South Sudan or El Salvador, while litigation over the policy proceeds.

In a follow-up action on 3 July, the court clarified that its earlier stay also applies to a separate remedial order issued by U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy. By a 7–2 vote, the justices cleared the way for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to remove eight convicted criminals—now held at a U.S. military facility in Djibouti—to South Sudan. Justice Elena Kagan joined the majority this time, while Sotomayor and Jackson again dissented, warning the men could face torture or death once transferred.

The decisions mark consecutive victories for President Donald Trump’s effort to expand “third-country” removals, a tactic officials say is necessary when home nations refuse to take back their citizens. Civil-rights attorneys argue the policy violates constitutional due-process guarantees and international anti-torture norms; the underlying lawsuit will continue in the First Circuit Court of Appeals. For now, Homeland Security officials say the eight migrants will be on South Sudanese soil by Independence Day.