WASHINGTON
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday authorized the Trump administration to restart deportations of migrants to countries not identified in their original removal orders, handing President Trump a victory on immigration while scheduling full oral arguments in December to decide the policy's legality.
The court's unsigned order did not explain its reasoning for blocking a lower-court injunction that had halted the third-country deportations. The justices asked both sides to argue whether federal district courts have jurisdiction to rule on the issue and grant nationwide relief, and whether the Trump policy violates due process or international conventions against torture.
Solicitor General John Sauer told the justices that third-country deportations serve as "an essential tool to remove certain aliens, including some of the worst criminal aliens." The administration has deported tens of thousands of noncitizens to Mexico and countries across Africa and Latin America after their home nations refused to accept them.
In an emergency filing Sept. 24, Sauer wrote: "While certain aliens may benefit from stalling their removal, the Nation does not." The court noted that the three liberal justices dissented from the stay.
This marks the third time the Supreme Court has rejected attempts by U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston to halt the deportations. Judge Murphy has ruled the policy violates due process because detainees lack meaningful notice or opportunity to raise fears of torture or abuse in their destination countries.
The National Immigration Litigation Alliance, representing migrants facing deportation, detailed severe harms in court filings. Lawyer Trina Realmuto wrote that clients removed without proper notice have experienced "prolonged and arbitrary detention, beatings and sexual assault, disappearance, and chain refoulement to countries from which the United States had already granted them protection." Realmuto added: "These harms cannot be undone."
The Department of Homeland Security countered that Judge Murphy's rulings created a "logistical nightmare," citing canceled flights, potential diplomatic problems, and delays in removing individuals convicted of assault and drug crimes.
The Trump administration argued that Secretary of State Marco Rubio's assurances that a country will not persecute or torture detainees should suffice for deportations. The conservative majority has backed this reasoning throughout the procedural disputes, allowing deportations to continue while the broader legal questions await full review.
