In a 6-3 decision, the US Supreme Court has granted the Trump administration the authority to resume deporting migrants to third countries, even if they are not the migrants’ homelands. This ruling overturns a lower court decision that had required the government to provide deportees a chance to present the risks of torture or death they may face in these countries. The ruling stems from a case involving eight migrants from countries including Myanmar, South Sudan, and Mexico, who were deported on a plane said to be headed for South Sudan.
The court’s liberal justices—Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson—issued a scathing dissent, calling the decision a “gross abuse” of judicial discretion. Justice Sotomayor warned that the ruling prioritized government convenience over the lives of vulnerable individuals. Lawyers for the migrants argued that many of those deported had no criminal convictions, despite the Trump administration labeling them as “the worst of the worst.”
The Department of Homeland Security celebrated the ruling as a win for national security, with spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin stating, “Fire up the deportation planes.” Meanwhile, immigration advocates and legal organizations condemned the decision, calling it “horrifying” and warning it puts migrants at risk of torture and death. This decision marks another judicial victory for Trump, following recent Supreme Court rulings allowing the rollback of migrant protections and humanitarian programs.
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