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The Supreme Court on Thursday handed President Donald Trump a key immigration win, clearing the way for the deportation of eight migrants from Djibouti to South Sudan, a country not listed in their original removal orders.
In a short, unsigned opinion, the justices granted the administration’s request to “clarify” a prior ruling, confirming that their June 23 stay of a lower court injunction also blocked a follow-up remedial order issued May 21.
That remedial order had required the government to give the migrants notice and a chance to raise claims under the Convention Against Torture before being sent to a third country.
SUPREME COURT SIDES AGAINST MIGRANT IN DEPORTATION CASE
“The motion for clarification is granted,” the court wrote. “The May 21 remedial order cannot now be used to enforce an injunction that our stay rendered unenforceable”.
The decision gives the Trump administration a green light to move forward with third-country deportations under its executive order, even to destinations not previously clarified in court-approved removal documents.
Earlier, a district judge had found the government violated its April injunction by failing to provide a “meaningful opportunity” for six of the migrants to make their case against removal. The Supreme Court stayed that injunction in June, and Thursday’s clarification makes clear the lower court’s follow-up order can’t stand either.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissented sharply, accusing the court of enabling deportations that could lead to torture or death.
SUPREME COURT RULES ON TRUMP’S THIRD-COUNTRY DEPORTATIONS, IN MAJOR TEST FOR PRESIDENT
“Today’s order clarifies only one thing: Other litigants must follow the rules, but the administration has the Supreme Court on speed dial. Respectfully, I dissent,” Sotomayor wrote.
“The Government seeks to nullify [basic rights] by deporting noncitizens to potentially dangerous countries without notice or the opportunity to assert a fear of torture.”
The ruling strengthens the Trump administration’s hand as it enforces its third-country deportation policy.
The Department of Homeland Security celebrated the ruling, releasing a statement Thursday afternoon: “These sickos will be in South Sudan by Independence Day,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “A win for the rule of law, safety and security of the American people.”
The eight individuals include violent offenders with convictions for murder, robbery, armed assault, and sex crimes involving minors. Among them are Enrique Arias-Hierro, convicted of homicide and armed robbery, Jose Manuel Rodriguez-Quinones, convicted of attempted first-degree murder; and Kyaw Mya and Nyo Myint, both convicted of serious sex offenses involving minors or vulnerable victims.
DHS referred to them as “barbaric criminal illegal aliens” being removed by ICE under Trump’s executive authority.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on X regarding the ruling, writing, “This is another incredible victory for America. Thank you to the Supreme Court for ruling on the side of law and order, and affirming the executive authority of the President.”
“Today’s decision makes clear it is district court judges who are defying Supreme Court orders, not the Trump administration,” David Warrington, White House Counsel wrote in an email to Fox News Digital. “This decision is a clear rebuke of such judicial overreach.”
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