US Supreme Court ‘Backs’ Trump To Resume Third-Country Deportations

The United States (US) Supreme Court has temporarily cleared the way for President Donald Trump’s administration to resume deporting immigrants to countries where they have no previous ties.

The court’s decision on Tuesday lifted restrictions placed on the deportations by a lower court while the justices prepare to determine whether the policy is legal, Naija News reports.

The Supreme Court said it would hear arguments in December before delivering a final ruling on the case.

The emergency ruling means the Trump administration can continue with the deportations for now, despite concerns raised by a district court judge over the safety of migrants being sent to third countries.

The judge had ruled that migrants were not being given enough opportunity to make claims that they could face torture or other dangers if deported to countries with which they had no connection.

Three liberal justices of the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, said they would have allowed the restrictions to remain in place while the case is being considered.

However, the justices did not give reasons for their positions.

Reacting to the ruling, Department of Homeland Security General Counsel James Percival described it as the second Supreme Court victory for the Trump administration in less than a week.

“In our second Supreme Court victory in less than a week, DHS’s third country removal policy is back in effect,” Percival said in a statement.

He also urged migrants facing deportation to accept a $3,000 payment and a flight out of the US.

The ruling comes as Trump continues to expand his administration’s immigration enforcement programme.

His administration has defended third-country deportations as part of efforts to remove people it describes as violent criminals, while agreements have been reached with several countries to receive deportees. Many of the countries involved are in Africa.

Tuesday’s decision is the third emergency ruling by the Supreme Court in a case brought by immigration groups against the policy.

At an earlier stage of the legal battle, the justices had also lifted temporary restrictions placed on deportation flights by the lower court.

The Supreme Court later rejected another attempt by the judge to stop a deportation flight to South Sudan, ruling against his position that the flight had violated his order.

The latest case centres on a final ruling by US District Judge Brian Murphy, who ruled against the Trump administration’s deportation policy.

Murphy, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, sits on the federal bench in Boston.

The US Solicitor General, D. John Sauer, had warned the Supreme Court that Murphy’s ruling was already affecting deportation plans.

According to Sauer, the restrictions had halted a planned flight carrying 70 people with criminal convictions to three countries.