The US Supreme Court on Thursday authorised the Trump administration to proceed with deporting a group of migrants currently stranded at a US military base in Djibouti to conflict-ridden South Sudan.
This ruling from the predominantly conservative court follows a decision made 10 days earlier that permitted the administration to deport migrants to countries other than their home nations.
In May, eight migrants were being transported to South Sudan from the United States but were diverted to Djibouti after a district court issued a stay blocking deportations to third countries, citing concerns that migrants were not given sufficient opportunity to challenge their removal.
On June 23, the Supreme Court lifted the stay imposed by District Judge Brian Murphy, allowing third-country deportations to resume. However, Murphy, appointed by President Joe Biden, had separately stayed the deportation of these eight migrants in Djibouti, a ruling that the Supreme Court had yet to overturn.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court clarified that its June 23 decision also applies to Murphy’s separate order, clearing the way for the migrants’ deportation.
Liberal justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented. Sotomayor criticised the ruling, highlighting the risk of the migrants facing torture or death upon return to South Sudan, and lamented what she called the administration’s apparent preferential access to the Supreme Court.
US officials have described the eight men—originating from Myanmar, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, Mexico, and South Sudan—as convicted violent criminals.
The Trump administration defends its third-country deportation policy as a necessary response to some countries refusing to accept their nationals.
Deportations have been a central focus of Donald Trump’s presidency, with aggressive measures taken since his return to the White House in January to expedite the removal of undocumented migrants.
