In a win for the Trump administration’s mass deportation plans, the Supreme Court ruled Monday, June 23, that deporting migrants to countries other than their own can continue. It comes after a judge had previously ruled that migrants be given the chance to contest their removals to other countries.
SCOTUS ruling
The high court ruled 6-3 in favor of pausing that judge’s ruling, with the three liberal justices –– Sonia Sotomayor, Ketanji Brown Jackson and Elena Kagan –– all dissenting.
“The Government has made clear in word and deed that it feels itself unconstrained by law, free to deport anyone anywhere without notice or an opportunity to be heard,” Justice Sotomayor said in her dissent.
The majority did not provide an explanation for their decision, a common practice in emergency appeals.
Their decision removes Boston-based U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy’s injunction, allowing migrants to seek relief from being flown to third countries. The Trump administration will now be able to quickly resume those deportations.
The Supreme Court became involved in this case in May when the Trump administration requested that it intervene. The administration said Murphy’s injunction prevented possibly thousands of deportations.
In his ruling, Murphy clarified that migrants should have at least 10 days to bring a claim. Murphy has also claimed the Trump administration violated his order by deporting people to South Sudan.
Third-country deportations
The Trump administration has deported people to countries including El Salvador, Libya and South Sudan –– the latter of which is in the midst of a civil war.
CBS News reports administration officials have also reached out to countries like Angola and Equatorial Guinea about accepting migrants who are not their citizens.
This started in February when the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued guidance to immigration authorities, telling them to deport migrants to third countries if the migrants feared being tortured in their home countries.
One month later, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem issued further guidance, saying migrants can be sent to a third country if that country has provided reassurances that the deported persons will not be tortured or prosecuted.
Another part of the reason the Trump administration began bringing in third countries is that some of the countries where migrants originally came from refused to accept repatriation flights.
For instance, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro stopped flights in March after the U.S. Treasury Department suspended Chevron’s permission to export oil from the country. The two sides have since reached a deal, and flights have resumed.
Deportation debate
Despite the guidance from DHS about migrants not being persecuted or tortured in third countries, hundreds of migrants ended up in CECOT, a notorious mega-prison in El Salvador. President Nayib Bukele agreed to house 300 immigrants per year in his country’s prison at a cost of $6 million.
The deportations began after the president invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which allows the government to deport, detain or relocate people during times of war or a national emergency.
The Trump administration claimed many of those sent to CECOT were part of a Venezuelan gang called Tren de Aragua. However, in most cases, they did not identify the people who were deported or provide evidence that they were part of the gang.
