Supreme Court allows Trump to restart deportation of migrants away from home countries
Divided court lifts order, paving way for removals to third countries; dissenters warn of torture and death risks
A divided US Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to restart swift removals of migrants to countries other than their homelands, lifting for now a court order requiring they get a chance to challenge the deportations.
The high court majority did not detail its reasoning in the brief order. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by the other two liberal justices, issued a scathing dissent.
Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin suggested third-country deportations could restart soon. “Fire up the deportation planes,” she said in a statement, calling the decision “a victory for the safety and security of the American people”.
But a judge said one deportation flight originally bound for South Sudan would not be completing the trip right away.
The immigrants on board the May flight were from countries including Myanmar, Vietnam and Cuba. They had been convicted of serious crimes in the US, and immigration officials said they were unable to return them quickly to their home countries.