Supreme Court Lets Trump Resume Third-Country Deportations

Washington (GNP): The United States Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Trump administration to resume deporting migrants to countries other than their own, without first giving them a chance to argue they could face persecution or torture.

The six conservative justices temporarily blocked a lower-court ruling that had required officials to give migrants sufficient notice and an opportunity to raise safety concerns before removal to a third country. The court gave no reasoning in its emergency order. The three liberal justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissented.

That lower-court ruling came from a federal appeals court earlier this month, which held that migrants must be able to raise such concerns before being rapidly removed. The Supreme Court’s order now puts those requirements on hold while it examines the wider legal challenge. Oral arguments are scheduled for December.

The administration had pressed the court to act, arguing that the restrictions created logistical and diplomatic difficulties, including cancelled deportation flights and added costs. Solicitor General D. John Sauer also said the limits had hindered the removal of people the government considers dangerous.

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The stakes are considerable, because the policy has already been used to deport more than 25,000 migrants to third countries. Some of those destinations are nations facing political instability and humanitarian crises.

Those risks were raised a day before the ruling, when United Nations (UN) human rights experts urged Washington to halt third-country deportations. They warned that migrants could face abuse, torture and persecution in countries with no connection to their nationality.

For now, the order lets the administration continue its policy of rapid removals while the justices weigh the case, and the December hearing will show how the court approaches the question.