U.S. Supreme Court Lets Trump Administration Resume Third-Country Deportations While Justices Weigh Policy

Deportations resume for now

The United States Supreme Court allowed Donald Trump’s administration to continue swiftly deporting people to countries other than their own while the justices weigh whether the policy is legal. The Supreme Court’s apparent 6-3 order temporarily lifted lower court requirements for migrants to get a chance to object before being sent to countries to which they have no ties, and the court scheduled December arguments. The Supreme Court also temporarily allowed the administration to resume its policy of sending some deported individuals to third countries with which they have links, while leaving in suspense lower court rulings that required informing migrants about the country of destination and giving them the chance to challenge the transfer before expulsion.

The Trump administration said last week that a lower court order forced the cancellation of a deportation flight carrying about 70 people bound for three countries. The Supreme Court’s decision left the final ruling for later, with the court set to decide the merits in December and to issue a definitive ruling by the summer of 2027.

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Arguments, votes, and disputes

Attorney General Todd Blanche called the policy “an entirely lawful and critical tool for immigration enforcement” in a social media post, and federal attorneys said recipient countries commit not to persecute or torture people the United States sends.

James Percival, general counsel at the Department of Homeland Security, cheered the decision and urged people in the U.S. illegally to self-deport, saying, “In our second Supreme Court victory in less than a week, DHS's third country removal policy is back in effect.”

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The Supreme Court agreed to pause a lower court ruling that said immigration authorities must give deportees more due process before removing them to so-called third countries, and the court said it would hear arguments in December.

Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, and the court said it would consider whether the policy is lawful and whether lower courts had the authority to issue a sweeping block.

Solicitor General D. John Sauer told the justices that a federal court of appeals caused “chaos” by allowing the ruling to take effect last week, and he said the government had to quickly cancel a flight with 70 migrants to three countries.

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What happens next

The Supreme Court’s temporary authorization keeps the administration’s “third country” deportation mechanism in motion while the justices review the government’s appeal and decide the legal questions raised by migrants challenging the process. The policy has sent “some 25,000 people to more than two dozen countries,” with the vast majority sent to Mexico, and the administration has negotiated agreements with other governments, including Liberia and Guyana. The administration’s lawyers argued that lower court requirements forced flight cancellations and turned rapid deportations into another lengthy judicial process, while the immigrants’ lawyers argued that some deportees have ended up imprisoned in countries they did not even know about.

The Supreme Court’s decision also leaves in suspense the lower courts’ due process requirements, including the requirement that migrants receive notice and have an opportunity to challenge removals before immigration officers attempt to send them to countries that are not their own. The case comes as the Trump administration has pledged to deport millions of people living in the United States illegally, and the Supreme Court said it will hear arguments in December before issuing a final ruling.

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